


Lost

by E_Panda



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/F, Family Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:08:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14818907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Panda/pseuds/E_Panda
Summary: Regina is in love with Emma! She doesn't think she can be with her. With Emma's wedding looming over their heads, what can Regina do to fix it? ( This story is also on fanfiction under Love isn't lost, Just not found yet. I am rewriting some of my fics because they need editing ... Bad)





	1. Chapter 1

Regina didn't know what upset her about Hook coming back. Emma had been feeling upset since he left, Regina had been trying to help her to feel better. She even planned an outing to The Rabbit Hole, where Snow White, the one and only Mother to the savior, got drunk and challenged a bunch of Vikings to darts. 

Regina had long ago realized that she loved being surrounded by her family and friends, especially when Snow was embarrassing herself.

Regina had spent most of her life trying to ruin Snow's but realized now she didn't need to bother. Snow, no matter what would find the best in everything. Even after everything Regina had done to the family, they still wanted her around. If only she had realized this earlier it would have saved her a lot of heartache. She sometimes missed being the Evil Queen, but only usually because she missed the extravagant dresses and hair do's. 

In actual fact, the reason she had acted out was that she never felt that Snow would accept her. She was angry at her, when Snow was a child, for ruining her chances with Daniel. Now she knew, she had just miss-directed her anger for her Mother. Snow was doing what she thought would help Regina, it just turned out to be a terrible plan. Cora, her very own Mother, decided to deceive a young girl and break her own daughter's heart by ripping out poor Daniel's heart.

She was upset she never really met her real Mother, the one with a heart and the ability to love, but she was glad that the woman who had restricted her entire life was gone.

She was beginning to realize that Emma turning up with Henry all those years ago had impacted her life more positively than anyone else had managed too.

She and Emma had started off enemies, but they built a strong mutual interest then slowly became friends.

This is why Regina was confused as her jealousy spiked when she found out Emma was marrying Hook (a person who made the blond happy). She thought it was because of Robin. Even after she had brought him back from the dream world she didn't like Emma being with Hook.

She just wanted to find out why every time she saw Hook kiss Emma, she had to look away. She hadn't noticed how much it bothered her when she was with Robin. He had distracted her. Now she was finding it hard to admit that she liked Emma. Emma was with Hook with meant that she would never be interested in her, but some part of her was still fighting for Emma.

She collected her thoughts and her coat and went to Granny's.

Sat at a table was Emma and Henry they were laughing about something that Regina probably wouldn't understand, but it made her happy to see the two laughing together. They signaled her to sit down. She got into the booth next to Henry.

"Hey Mom, Emma was just telling me about a time she had been caught dumpster diving when she was living with a foster family," He said front to talk through his giggles.

"What's dumpster diving," she asked confused as to how someone dives in a dumpster. Did said person need equipment, was it another sport she had never heard of.

"Well the family I was living with kept giving me smaller portions than their own kids, so I took it upon myself to look through the trash and collect the bits their kids hadn't eaten. One night I was head first in the dumpster, that's when their Dad came out to take the rubbish out for collection the next day. In an attempt to hide, I jumped into the bin. He struggled for a while to pull the rubbish out before he spotted me sitting in the garbage. He shouted me to get out and I did pulling a half-eaten box of donuts with me. I never let a healthy donut down. So I jumped out and he grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me into the house to confront my foster Mom. Just so you know I was still holding the box. She shouted at me and I shouted at her. She told me I was going call the social worker, the next day, so preceded to stuff my face in front of her with the donuts. She was not happy, but I didn't care I just went upstairs and got my stuff and left" She said. The story didn't make Regina laugh. Every story she had heard about Emma's past made her feel guilty. In her attempt to keep the mood up, she gave a little giggle which was joined by Henry's. Emma was giving her a strange look.

The rest of lunch was fine. The small unconventional family talked and ate their food.

After they took Henry to his sword lesson with David, Emma and Regina were quite whilst walking together. After a while, Emma decided to ask the former Evil queen why she hasn't liked her story.

"Regina I don't want us to argue or anything, but why were you so offended by my story," Emma asked. The Queen stopped where she was. Emma did the same.

"I wasn't offended by your story Emma. I was upset that because of me you grew up in places that didn't see how wonderful a person you are. I've never met anyone as dedicated to saving people as you are. It just upsets me that no one who had looked after you treated you like you should have been treated. Like a princess." Regina said after a while getting embarrassed that she was saying this to Emma. But she had sworn never to keep Emma or Henry out again.

Regina had walked away from Emma who was shocked still just behind her. The blond had never blamed Regina for what happened to her. She just wanted to see that everything Emma had been through brought them both to where they were now. It wasn't ever how Emma had seen her life going, but it had always passed her expectations. She had a family and people around her who loved her and wanted the best for her. Sometimes the pressure to live up to the image they had built around her was hard. With Regina, she had always been able to be herself. That was something that Emma loved about being with Regina, both of them saw each other for who they were, not for who they wanted the person to be. They could both just be themselves.

Regina noticed the blond had stopped. Mistaking it for Emma being upset with her, Regina felt herself tearing up. She didn't want to fight with Emma because she was the only person who believed that Regina could change and had actually helped her to change.

"I'm so sorry Emma if you don't want to speak to me I'd get it. I mean I almost killed your Mom because she told on me, and I made the curse that ruined your childhood. I can't imagine how angry I make you" She said, her head dropped as she began to walk away. Emma chased after her and turned Regina to face her.

"Regina you could never make me hate you, especially so much that I would stop talking to you. I wish you would stop blaming yourself. You just need to remember that some of the things you did, were caused because no one around you was strong enough to help you or was just blinded by fear." She said to the brunette who couldn't stop her tears from falling.

"Thank you, I'm still sorry though, I had my parents, my Mother might have been a witch with a B, but she loved me and just wanted, in her opinion, the best for me. My daddy always looked after me. He might not be strong enough to stand up my Mother, but he made sure I was Ok. I couldn't Imagine growing up without them. They were always there to support me and without that support, I wouldn't be who I am." She said. Not even trying to stop her tears anymore.

"Look I might have liked growing up with parents, I'll never know, but I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't fight for myself. That's something your mother never taught you right. We both help each other because that's who we are. We're just two people who needed someone to talk to who understood. I'm glad we met in the way we did because I don't think you would have been my best friend and we wouldn't share Henry. I like that I don't always have to be the one telling him no and protecting him. We're a good team, you know." She said, trying to cheer Regina up, she didn't want her to feel guilty just because her parents decided to give her and their friends a chance to fight against Regina's curse. She's not angry about that either she understood why they did it. The woman in front of her was Henry's mom and her best friend Regina, not the Evil Queen. She knew what it was like as a child to grow up without being able to control what you do, or where you go.

"Are you busy at the moment?" Regina asked. Her voice back to normal. Emma shook her head. "Wanna hang out," Regina asked the words sounded strange coming out of her mouth.

"Sure what would you wanna do, my parents won't leave me alone long enough to breath when I'm with them. Hook won't stop cuddling me and we'll everyone else just talks either about the final battle or about the wedding. I'm getting bored of it. I just wanna sit around trashing old movies and screaming at the dwarfs when they get too drunk." She said sighing from boredom.

"Ok, today no talk of weddings or battles we will just hang out and do something fun, deal?" Regina asked.

"Yeah sure, where should we start?" Emma asked as they started to walk to Regina's house.

"How about I find lots of junk food and we watch kids films and make fun of them" Regina suggested.

"That sounds amazing, can we start with frozen. I want to see what their story was" Regina asked.

"Sure magic it up from my house where my Mom has been forcing poor Neil to watch them all. She's hoping it will teach him about us. I'm sorry but when that kid is old enough to understand he is still going to freak. I think anyone saying, oh by the way we are all from fairy tales is going to be a shocker" Emma giggled.

" Yes, unless they are our son then they run the entire story" Regina joined in laughing.

"Henry has always been special, you brought him up with imagination and care so anything was possible in his eyes. The book was something that let him understand more, he's had a link to the book ever since Mary Margret gave it to him." Emma said grabbing frozen with her magic and popping it in the DVD player. Regina grabbed the junk food and arranged it neatly on the table.

"So have you not bothered watching the movies," Emma asked curious to see if Regina knew how she had been portrayed.

"The ones with me in yes, I don't really like the adult version of Snow White. The women who play Snow is not suited to the role well." Regina said settling down next to Emma.

"Yeah that Kristen Stewart, she doesn't do princess well or straight for that matter." Emma laughed to herself. Regina just nodded and pressed play.

They both were silent as the movie started. Regina looked uncomfortable when she saw Elsa trapped in her bedroom.

"Do you think Elsa actually did that?" Regina asked feeling sorry for the poor girl who hid her self away.

" I know she did, she told me about it. She was too scared to leave after she hurt Anna. She didn't leave until the day she became Queen." Emma told the older woman.

" So if I had taken notice of their kingdom I would have been able to help her a little and bring her land and her and her sister together again. It's too bad I was Evil my power would have helped so many people" Regina said sounding disappointed with herself.

" Yes but without all this mess we wouldn't be here to bless it and move on. You can't do anything now that wouldn't cause more pain so it better to just take it as fact." Emma said reassuring Regina.

" I just wanted to be me, the image my mother set out for me was never my version of perfect but it was all I had at the time" Regina explained.

" I know but now you are living the life you want, you can fall in love, start your own family and do things the way you wanted them to be done," Emma stated trying to get Regina to see it hadn't hurt everyone as much as she thought she had. They continued the movie. Love is an open door started playing. Regina started to laugh to herself.

"What are you laughing at?" Emma asked.

" That Prince who she is singing to is going to betray her. I can see it a mile off, no one goes to a party looking for a princess when there is a Queen about. Unless of course, it's Snow, even at a young age she had many suitors" Regina said. The movie seemed silly to her. Anna would have been angrier at her sister for locking herself away and not being there for her younger sister when she needed her the most." Regina said clearly confused by Disney's portrayal of the characters.

"True your Evil Queen character is always vain and trying to kill Snow because she is prettier than you, which isn't true because you're definitely more beautiful than my mother. She doesn't have your smile, the one that's been through so much heartache but still seems to be able to light up your face." Emma said not realizing how her word had affected the woman to her right.

" You think I'm more beautiful than your own mother" Regina asked is a small voice.

" Definitely, your eyes are gorgeous, you have great lips hips and ass and to top it off, your personality. Once you get to know you, you realize you are amazing. You were born a fighter. The pain has made you what you are today and you embrace it" Emma said now seeing how her friend was affected by her words.

"Thank you no one has ever said anything that nice to me before" Regina smiled sincerely at Emma who because suddenly very hot.

" I'm just going out for a break it's getting stuffy in here," Emma said making an excuse to leave for a second to cool off. She never noticed how attractive Regina was. She never let herself relax enough around Regina to notice. Now though she couldn't turn her head off. She was meant to be marrying Hook in a few days and now she has a crush on her best friend. Something told her, it had just made things very difficult for her. She took a few deep breaths but before she could walk back in Regina came outside.

" Emma do you really love Hook. I know you're marrying him. I want to know that's it's because you love him truly, not because of thinking it's what your Mother wants. I learned from experience that it will never make you happy to follow everyone else's idea of your happiness." Regina asked seeing how disoriented Emma looked.

" I'm not so sure I do. I mean I thought I did, but the more I think about it, the worse the plan seems to be. I'm going to have to live with him and maybe even have kids and I'm not sure Hook will ever stop being a pirate. It's not fair to ask him to stop but at some point, I want to stop saving people's lives and settle down." Emma confessed.

" Who would you like to settle with?" Regina asks curious but also wishing for Emma to say her name, even though Regina knew deep down she never would.

" Someone who gets me does what I say when it important and knows when I'm working myself too hard. Someone who needs support just as much as me. I love Hook but his problems never seem to make sense to me" Emma said. She knew what she had wanted to say but at the moment it wasn't right. She didn't know what she wanted to do. Regina wasn't going to admit she like Emma so she didn't want to start something before the wedding and upset everyone who had been dreaming of today ( mostly her Mother).

" Emma, what do I mean to you?" Regina asked her voice a little nervous.

" Regina you are the most genuine person I have ever met. You wear your emotions on your face where they belong, you don't keep things bottled up and you never let anyone underestimate you. Your beautiful and I would really like it if we could be in each other's life's for the remainder of what we have." Emma said also becoming nervous. She was running through the pros and cons of telling Regina how she beat her to it. The brunette was unable to stop herself from pulling the blond into a long kiss. It lingered on Emma's lips as Regina quickly pulled away realizing what happened.

" Oh god, what did I just do?" Regina whispered to herself just loud enough for Emma to hear. Regina ran back to her house before Emma said anything. Emma was still stood on the spot where the beautiful woman had kissed her. It reassured Emma that marrying Hook was definitely not right for her. She just needs to get the balls to tell him and her parents. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Regina ran up to her room locking herself in her bathroom. Her breathing was erratic. She can't believe she had just kissed Emma. She was annoyed that she couldn't control her emotions around Emma. Every gesture and look sent shivers continuously down her spine. She just wanted the savior to see her feelings for her. Now she might have gone and ruined her chances. A couple of minutes later she heard the door of her bedroom opening and a pair of heavy boots walking to the bathroom door. Emma didn't knock she just sat down outside the door hoping that Regina would forgive her for not kissing back.


	2. I kissed you!

Regina sat on the floor of her bathroom. The floor was cold against her hands and her tears began to fall fast and think. She tried everything to calm herself down. Taking deep breaths, counting to ten, count backward from ten. She just couldn't stop her erratic heart from beating too fast. She decided to lie her forehead on the floor in hopes that it would cool her down. The tears kept pouring from her face.

"Why was I so stupid to think she would care about me, I had to ruin the best relationship I've had with someone just because I couldn't control myself." She said blaming her self for being so impulsive. She just wanted to wrap herself up in a duvet and cry/eat ice cream and binge watch her tv shows.

She heard footsteps following her and Emma sat outside the door. Regina tried to keep herself calm by listening to Emma's breathing but even her breathing was fast.

It was silent for a while, whilst the pair tried to work out what to say to each other.

Emma began.

"I'm so sorry Regina I didn't mean to embarrass you, you just shocked me that's all. I wasn't expecting you to admit you actually have feelings for me, I'm me I don't do expressing feelings well" Emma tried to explain in the best way she could think of.

Regina stayed quite trying to calm herself down before talking.

" No, I'm sorry Emma, you're about to marry Hook in a few days and I just kissed you, I wasn't thinking sorry, I should have just told you before that I liked you. I guess it's hard for me to show people how I feel about them too. The only person I'm really open with is Henry, that's just because he can usually read me like a book anyway. He's grown up so fast" Regina said her voice cracking now and again.

"You like me, that's fine Regina. I am marrying Hook. This doesn't change us, but of if it too hard for you I'd understand. I mean you just lost Robin and here I am flaunting my marriage in front of you. We haven't really talked about him, you know... going. Maybe you're just confused about how you are feeling at the moment." Emma said. She suddenly felt sad, not being there as much as she should of for Regina. She didn't want her to feel like she didn't want to know her now she was with Hook. 

In fact, since she and Hook got together she had just wanted to be around Regina more. She tried everything she could to spend time with her. She didn't know why but Regina and her, since fighting pan to save Henry, had gotten a lot closer. At first, it was just a mutual agreement that they would get along for Henry's sake but after a while, they discovered that they had a lot more in common than they expected. Emma started to stand up for Regina when everyone started to turn on her. Regina had been the one person Emma trusted with the dark one's knife. Their mutual agreement had turned into a fully-fledged friendship.

Emma was no longer sure that Hook was the one for her. Everything, since he told her he was leaving, had left doubts in her head. Sure he never meant to leave but he still wanted to leave at the beginning. Which made Emma reluctant to trust him. She saw that he wasn't ready to give up his Pirate life and all she wanted to do was settle down and maybe save a few lives now and again with the help of her fairytale family.

Regina still hadn't opened the door and Emma started to panic that would never speak to her again.

"Emma, I would really appreciate some time alone at the moment, I clearly have some issues I need to get over and I don't think it would be smart for you to be around when I work on them" Regina said reluctant to see the blond leave, but knowing that if she stayed it would make things harder for her to accept what was happening . Emma the only person, other than Henry, who has spent time enough to get to know Regina and actually still wanted to stick around.

Emma was shocked that the brunette wouldn't talk to her, but she understood. Emma was marrying Hook and Regina felt left out or throw by everything that had happened in the last year. Regina had found her soul mate, fell in love and almost became a family until it ripped from her grasp.

"Ok I'll leave, but just know I'm here when you need me," Emma said.

"That's half the problem" Regina whispered. She hadn't wanted Emma to hear her, but she had. Confused and a little upset, Emma got up and left the brunette in the bathroom.

Once Regina heard the front door close, she stood up and walked into her bedroom. She collapsed on the bed and started to cry. She let the escaping water from her eyes drain her physical as well as emotionally. She was tired of fighting for something that she could never have. Maybe it was time she just went out and took what she wanted, but Regina never knew how to show her emotions well. As she tried to plan a way to tell Emma she needs to be with her, she fell asleep.

Emma was extremely confused as she left Regina's house. She tried to think of reasons why Regina had been so upset, but when Robin died, she didn't react how Emma thought she would. She had been a good friend to Emma when Hook disappeared, Regina seemed more relaxed than ever. She had even got her hair cut and dressed all fancy. Emma couldn't think why the brunette sounded so broken all of a sudden. Their day had started as usual. Regina had met her and Henry for lunch and dropped him off at her parents' house. They hung out. Emma wouldn't call it a routine, but it happened often enough that she and Regina started to actually enjoy hanging out together.

Emma decided she needed to speak to Snow about it. She walked to her Mother's apartment. As she entered through the door she was almost hit By Henry and Charming who were still practicing. That had moved all of the furniture to the sides and we're almost sparing like pros. Henry was no longer the little boy with no idea and just wanting to play. His moves were precise and calculated. He managed to one-up David every time and it ended up with the Charming lay flat on his back with a training sword pointed at his throat.

"Told ya Gramps I've been practicing. I've gotten pretty good, even Mom said" He gloated.

"Which one?" Charming asked in a cocky manner.

"Both of them" Henry smiled widely at him. He lifted the swords from his throat and took a step back noticing Emma for the first time.

"Hey, Mom I was just kicking Grandpa's butt with a sword." He said walking over to put his sword away.

"Yeah Kid, I think your better than he is now," Emma said, smirking at her Dad as he stood up.

" I don't think so," Snow said as she walked into the kitchen area.

"Well I think so, he just had David pinned to the floor." Emma laughed.

"Yeah watch out Three Musketeer's your three is about to become a four," Henry said skilfully swinging his sword around him, grinning like an idiot. When he had put his swords down, Emma hugged him then ruffed his hair and Henry tried to duck to try and avoid it, embarrassed by Emma's gesture.

"Hey Mom, could I talk to you in private for a second," Emma asked trying to sound casual.

"Sure, let's go for a walk in the woods, it's out of earshot and it's a lovely walk." Snow said smiling and grabbing her coat. She led Emma out of the apartment and walked to the edge of town. They kept their conversation casual as they walked towards the forest

"So how's Dad and Neil?" Emma asked Snow, making small talk not ready yet to ask her Mom.

"Their good I think, Neil is a bad sleeper though, David is usually the one up dealing with him, he says he wants to bond with him. I would argue but then I don't get to sleep" Snow giggled.

"Well, if the man volunteers, let him do it,"Emma said then grinned at Snow.

"Exactly!" Snow said grinning back, they both started to giggle. They continued there walk to the forest.

"So who does Neil pee on the most" Emma said. Knowing Snow loved talking about their Son. She and her Mom didn't spend much of their time talking about them selfs. When Emma had first come to town. They talked all the time. Even when now in the future, they regret some of the things they talked about.

"Me of course. David still hasn't perfected the nappy technique" Snow 

They reached the forest where Snow changed the conversation.

"Ok, so what is it you want to talk about?" She asked her daughter who suddenly looked nervous and was a little reluctant to talk at first not knowing how to say what she wanted without ringing alarm bells.

" I had lunch with Regina this afternoon, she looked a bit off when I saw her come in until she saw Henry. I was telling her a story about a foster family I had been with and her face changed. She kept laughing for Henry but I could tell the story has gotten to her somehow. I confronted her and we had a huge heart to heart. We went to hers to relax a little, watching movies but the conversation got a little more serious. In the end, Regina kissed me..." Emma explained her mother interrupted her.

"She did what, why would she do that to you, just before you are going to marry Hook." Snow asked clearly now quite grasping why Emma had told her the story.

"I think it's because she's lonely. Ever since Robin died. She just needed to know someone gave a crap. I think she just wanted to reach out to me and she didn't know how else to do it." Emma tried to couldn't consider Regina actually having feelings for her because she knew she wasn't the Queens type. There was still a small piece of her that wanted Regina to like her back though.

"That's still no excuse to kiss you," Snow said clearly irritated at the 'Evil' Queen had kissed her Daughter.

"Look, it's not about the kiss ok," Emma said getting annoyed that her mum still saw her best friend as a monster. " After she kissed me, she ran away and locked herself in the bathroom. She wouldn't even come out to talk to me Mom, I think she's really upset about something but I can't work out what" Emma said her voice getting slightly louder because she was becoming irritated by her confusion and inability to help Regina.

"Have you even considered it's because she might like you more than a friend, I mean I've seen how you two look at each other, it's like you both know what the other one is saying without even saying a word. Your father and I are in love but sometimes we find it hard to understand the other one, but you and Regina just seem to get each other" Snow said even though picturing her Daughter with the woman who had tried to kill her was hard. Emma took a deep breath, her mother's words had stunned her she never realized how close her and Regina had gotten. Her mother was right they could both be in a room full of people and have a conversation with their faces across the room.

" I don't think someone like Regina would go for someone like me. We are literally from two different worlds," Emma said saddened by her words. She looked down at her shoes not wanting to show Snow her insecurities.

" Look you may not think she likes you, but I'm telling you she does Emma if you just opened your eyes a little more you'd see the way she looks at you. It's the same way you sneak glances at her. Don't try and palm me off with an excuse either. I'm not blind Emma, I can see you are just too scared to face up to it" Snow said. Emma tried to stand up for herself but Snow's words kept her quite. The pair were quite for a while.

"Even if we did like each other. I'm marrying Hook. I already said I would. I can't break his heart after he fought so hard to get back to me" Emma said tears started to pool in her eyes. Snow lay her hand on Emma's shoulder and turn her around to face her. She grabbed her daughter's hands because they were shaking.

"Look never put someone one else's ideas in front of yours. That's how you get into a bad marriage. If it's not what you want, then stop it as soon as you can it will hurt you and him more to pretend everything is ok. Just know Emma you might fight for Regina but she might be too broken to fight back." Snow said am trying to calm her daughter.

"What if I'm meant to fix her?" Emma said. The sentence had just revealed what she and Regina do best, fix each other.

" Then you should get over to her house right away and help her."Snow said.

"What, right now?" Emma said, startled her mother would give up time with her for Regina. The Mother and Daughter had been getting along better, but now and again their conversations got really tense and they would have to have a break.

" There is no better time than the present" Snow smiled.

" Okay, thank you, Mom. I love you," Emma said running back from where they came. Her feet pounded the path as she ran as fast as she could to Regina's house. Out of breath and sweating, Emma knocked heavily on the door. She stood still to see if she would get an answer. No one came. She knocked again. Still nothing. She gave it one last tap but nobody came to the door.

Emma walked back to look at the bedroom windows. The lights were all turned off and the curtains were drawn. Emma ran around the back of the house. She found a spare key that Regina left for Henry when he came over. She opened the door and walks in. The house didn't look any different than it had before, but now there was an eery silence and a horrible uneasy feeling in the pit of Emma's stomach. She walked slowly around looking for signs of Regina. She couldn't see anything or hear anything. She climbed the stairs hoping to see her in her bedroom still. But as she opens the door she couldn't notice that the bed was empty and the draws were only half full.

Had Regina ran away from her. Had the woman been that upset with Emma that she no longer wanted to see her. Emma felt her heart shatter. She looked around the room uncertain of what to do. Everything inside her was fighting the tears that threatened to break her, but she couldn't fight it. She began to weep. She couldn't understand why Regina had gone.

Emma needed to find her but the problem was, if Regina didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. Emma felt herself fall to her knees no longer strong enough to stand. She looked around the room. Tears still pouring down her face. Why couldn't the pair of them be like other, ordinary friends and not fall for each other? If Snow was right she had just lost a shot with her one true love. That was something she was going to have to face every day. She had to marry Hook now because, without Regina's help to explain, Emma didn't think she had the guts or mental capacity to tell Hook that she didn't love him and couldn't marry him, right before the wedding. 

She had never been one for romance, she was the type of person to see someone smooching on a street corner and tell them to get a room. Slowly with Regina around and her mother, she started to realize love isn't something you can look for, its something that has to come naturally to you. Maybe that's why Hook is the one she is with, he did fight off the Lost boys to get back to her and he's been fighting hard for her. Maybe she and Regina were never meant to be, just fantasized about. Emma wasn't sure she was happy with that conclusion but without Regina there to talk it over, it was the only one she could come up with that made sense to her.

She sat on the floor of Regina's bedroom lost in her sadness not knowing what to do. Even when Hook had gone it hadn't hurt her this much. She felt numb, broken and lonely. The one person who could understand her was gone. Her foolish reaction to not kiss back had chased away her chances with Regina. Even though she knew it would almost be impossible to find Regina she was going to do everything in her power to get the beautiful Queen back to her.

She stubbornly stopped the tears from falling and stood up on her shaking legs. Her entire body felt drained and she decided to call her mother and ask if Henry could stay at theirs for the night. Her night had just been booked up with plans to find the boys adopted mother.

She grabbed her phone and rang Snow, who picked up instantly.

"She's gone mum," Emma said sadly,

she could feel her voice crack as the tear started to fall again. She tried to wipe them off, but every time she cleaned her face they just reappeared at the corners of her eyes.

"Oh sweetie, I can't believe it. She might come back, darling. You never know, Regina is unpredictable. She doesn't give up easily. Just come home and I'll make you a coffee and we can talk." Snow said trying to calm her almost hysterical Daughter. She heard her sobs down the phone

"No it's ok Mum, Regina is somewhere. I just need to find her. Could you look after Henry for me tonight." She asks slowly trying to get her tears under control.

"Yeah that fine sweetie, just make sure to look after yourself, don't push yourself so much you end up on the floor so tired you can barely move," Snow said knowing what Emma was like.

"No promises us, Mum, I'm going to find her if it kills me," Emma said putting the phone down unable to speak anymore, her throat felt like sandpaper and she was trying her best to hold back her tears. Her phone began to ring. She answered it without looking thinking it would be her mother. Instead on the other side of the phone, she could hear the deep shallow hitched breaths or Regina crying.

"Hello Regina are you there, please talk to me I'm so sorry, I have something I need to say and I have to say it to your face otherwise it won't mean anything," Emma said, her voice hoarse and tired. She heard Regina sob on the other side of the phone.

"I know what you're going to say, Emma, everyone I've ever loved had disappeared and I know that's what you are going to do. You're going to marry Hook because it's the right thing to do, just know I will keep fighting for you. Right up to the last second I can." Regina said the. Put the phone down.

"Why does she over complicate everything," Emma said. She tried to ring back but the call went straight to the message beep. Emma hung her head in disappointment. She suddenly stood up and walked from her friend's house carrying one of Regina's shirts with her hoping it could help her. She cleaned her face up and walked into the diner. She walked over to granny who was arranging the cake on the counter.

" Hey Granny, I was wondering if your wolf nose could help me find Regina." She asked hopefully even though she knew the answer.

"I'm sorry darling but if Regina magicked herself away there is no trail for me to follow. To save you time also, Regina knows how to block tracking spells." Granny said seeing how distressed the sheriff looked.

"Thank you Granny, is it ok if I get a coffee and couple of bear claws to go. I'm going to try to find her my way." Emma said done part of her wishing that Granny would suddenly think of something that could help her, but no such luck.

"Anything for you darlin'," The older lady said smiling sweetly at Emma. Emma thanked her and began to search the town for Regina. She checked the clock tower. Her lair and even the library. There weren't any traces of her being there. She continues to search for clues but nothing reared its head. She continued late into the night the last place she looked was at the lake. She took a seat and looked up at the stairs. They looked beautiful and made the dark sky seem less intimidating. The moon was bright and shone down on the lake leaving a pale white glow on the surface making the waters sparkle.

She stared at the moon for a long time wishing that Regina would come along and they could both comfort each other. She stayed awake as long as she could, almost like she was expecting Regina to turn up. Obviously, she didn't and Emma woke up the next day on the floor near the lake. What was strange to her was there was a coat layover her and it unmistakable smelt like Regina. Quickly she stood up, hoping the woman had changed her mind and came to talk to her. But Emma saw there was no one around.

She looked at her phone as saw she had a lot of missed calls from her Mom and Dad. She got up and started her walk back to the town. Her legs were heavy with sleep and her back ached from lying on the floor all night. She flung Regina's coat around herself, stopping the extra cold morning air from freezing her insides. 

It smelt just like her. It invaded her nostrils and made it almost impossible to concentrate. Every now and again she breathed a little deeper so the smell lingered longer. It made her happy that even when she was in hiding Regina was still looking out for her. After a long walk, she got back to the town. She called Snow to tell her she wasn't coming over until she needed to pick Henry up because she needed sleep.

"So you did end up sleeping on the forest floor," Snow said concerned for her first born.

"Yes I did, but she came to see me, or at least she put her coat on me, Mum she hasn't left completely, she is around somewhere. I just need to find her" Emma said her voice becoming panicked thinking of Regina hiding out by herself and blaming herself for Emma's reaction.

"Yes that is nice of her but for now Emma the best thing you can do for Regina is looking after yourself" Snow encouraged her daughter. " Go get some sleep and when you come over tonight to pick Henry up, I'll cook us dinner, take your mind off finding her for a few hours," Snow said, understanding her daughter needed to find Regina but not wanting her to hurt herself in the process.

"Ok Mom, I'll be over tonight, I love you, see you later," Emma said after her mother said goodbye she hung up. She had made it to her house. She trudged upstairs and entered her bedroom. There lay in her bed was Hook. She had forgotten about him.

"You forget about me or something love?" He said teasingly, what he didn't know was at that point she had forgotten about facing Hook at home.

"No I'm sorry, me and Regina kind of fell out yesterday and she ran off. I spent the night looking for her in the woods. I fell asleep." She said trying to put on a happier front. She didn't want to tell Hook what was going on because he would argue with her and she was in no mood to deal with a Pirate tantrum.

"Oh ok, what are you doing now?" He wakes a little put out by Emma's story expecting it to be more serious than her and her friend falling out and running off. Hook couldn't think of anyone other than Emma he would search for. Emma reluctantly took her trousers off and slipped underneath the covers.

"Sleeping like I've been put under a curse," she said as she rolled away from him to fall asleep. He lay a heavy arm around her waist and cuddled her from behind. The gesture felt uncomfortable to her. His skin was coarse and dirty. It was too heavy and felt as though she was trapped. She tried to calm her self down. It wasn't until half an hour later when Hook turned over that she could fall asleep.

In her dreams, she saw Regina wearing a breathtaking dress and yet looking disheveled. It was a good look for the mayor of Storybrooke. Her nightmares weren't that hard to handle when Regina was in them.


	3. Sitting In The Grass

Regina hid in her hiding place away from everyone and everything that could make her feel worse. Ever since she kissed Emma, her head wouldn't switch off. Her guilt and doubts rolled around her head at a million miles per hour. All she could properly make sense of is the voice in the back of her head screaming, "Emma hadn't pulled away".

Regina had when she freaked. Emma didn't sound that annoyed at her. Maybe Regina overthought it, maybe Emma did like her. She wasn't ready yet to talk face to face with Emma yet. She had to think of some way to get Emma away from everyone else for a while.

She magicked up a pen and paper and wrote a letter to Emma signing it. She crafted the piece of paper into a delicate Swan. She appeared by Emma. Regina could help but think how beautiful Emma looked even when she was asleep on the forest floor. Everything in her was telling her to take the blond home, but if Emma saw her now she would ask questions that Regina didn't know the answers to she put it in her coat pocket and lay her coat on top of Emma. She disappeared back to her hiding spot

Emma had slept almost all through the day. She woke up still tired, but after seeing that it was 6 o clock in the afternoon and she decided she needed to get up to save Henry another night at his Grandparent's and let him sleep in his own bed.

Henry and she hung out a lot more now that she didn't live with her parents. They watched movies together and eat food together. They even tried baking a cake at one point, but halfway through Regina had come to pick him up and realized that they had messed it up and helped them cook another one that was more edible. It was right after they had saved Henry from Peter Pan.

They had sat down and watched Never Ending Story. Regina nor Henry had seen it and it had been one of Emma's Favourite films growing up. She had watched it so much that one of her foster brothers got annoyed and broke the videotape. She hadn't seen it since, but now she was watching it with Henry who seemed transfixed by the film. She had been younger than him when she watched it the first time, but she could see he loved it just as much as she did. Regina, however, was looking at the screen but Emma could tell she hadn't been watching. Her face seemed distorted and like she was thinking about something that hurt her.

Emma decided to ask her about it after Henry went to sleep. They watch two of the films and finished the entire cake and had popcorn with the second film as well. They were all stuffed and Henry had fallen asleep halfway through. The two Mothers went outside to get some air. Emma stopped on the way and grabbed two wine glasses and a bottle of port. She joined Regina who was, to Emma's surprise, sat on the grass.

She went over and handed the brunette a glass. She poured some wine into Regina's glass then her own.

"So how come you're sitting out here," Emma asked stunned that the ever-regal Regina would sit on the grass.

"Well, I noticed you still don't have a bench and this looked like a good enough spot. I used to enjoy sitting in the grass when I younger, but Mother didn't allow it. Probably because my clothes were worth more than a village in those now and again when something upset me, I like sitting on the grass and looking at the stars. She lay back and looked at Emma, who was staring at her.

" But seriously get a bench. My clothes might be worth a lot less now, but they are still designer." Regina said in a mock serious voice. Emma laughed.

"Noted, I'll get one, but I don't really spend much time out here." She said noticing, for the first time, how pretty her garden looked. Even with her little amount of knowledge on gardening, she had to say Henry and he had done a good job.

Emma looked at Regina.

"You can't care that much if your will to lie on the grass," Emma said. Noticing how the moon had lit up the Queen's features and it made it almost impossible for her to look away. She had to stop we self from starring at her for too long. She didn't want to seem weird. She decided to lie down next to Regina. She put her hands behind her head and crossed the legs at the ankles. She looked up into the sky and looked at the stars. She never realized how many more stars she could see in Storybrooke compared to the city's she has lived in.

The pair were quite for a while.

"Why did you stop watching that film?" Regina asked. She was curious to know what her answer was.

"I'm not sure, no one else would buy me a copy and when I grew up I forgot about it until I saw it in the shop on DVD." Emma smiled.

"So someone broke a film you loved so much you watched it repeatedly and no one bought you a new one," Regina said, Everything a bully had broke at Henry's school, she always replaced.

"Most of the time it was because they couldn't afford it, but it was ok I got my own back on him," She said chuckling slightly.

"Well, he was older than me and kept bringing girls home from school and making fun of me for not having a boyfriend. One time I pretended I was sick so I could sneak in and put a pair of his really dirty underwear on the bed then snuck off to pretend to be sick some more. I did that quite a bit. School wasn't for me." Emma said Regina was smirking trying not to laugh at a stupid childish joke.

"What did the girl he brought home do?" Regina asked curious to how Emma's story ended.

"Well at first there was a loud sharp scream followed by some colorful words that ended with you disgusting pig. Then him shouting at her when she took photos to show the other girls. I ruined his school reputation." Emma said laughing. Regina couldn't stop herself from letting the laugh caught in her throat out. Emma and she were both trying to get their breath back a few moments later.

"Thank you for that I needed it," Regina said her giggles starting to die down now as Emma also tried to calm herself down.

"So what's up with you?" Emma asked casually, hoping Regina would open up a bit more now they had gotten slightly closer, after the recent events with Henry.

"I was just thinking of what my I'd been obsessed with when I was younger and the only thing my mother let me obsess about was my horse. I groomed him every single day and rode him to keep him fit. Fed him the best vegetables in the realm and made sure that Daniel wasn't around when I sang him to since I came here I haven't ridden a horse" She said. Sighing as though she missed a great friend.

"Why don't you go find him," Emma asked wondering where Regina would have left her horse.

" I um..." She said becoming upset " I ripped out his heart to try to use it in the curse but it didn't work. So instead I used my fathers. but it's always upset me that at one point that horse was must only faithful companion. I killed him in vain because I was too scared to hurt my father." She said, tears streaming down her face now.

"I'm sorry Regina I didn't mean to make you upset again. I just wanted to make you feel better, how about we find you another horse to ride, I know it might not be the same but I still think you would enjoy it" Emma said. Regina shook her head sadly.

"I can't, I will never find a horse like him and every baby he had was sent off for sale." She said, ashamed of how she let her mother use him for money.

" That's too bad, I think it would have helped you," Emma said, wondering how she could help Regina find a horse. She decided to drop the subject for the time being.

" So do you want to watch the last film or do you want to go, you could sleep in the spare room if you'd like," Emma said, not wanting Regina to think she was unwelcome.

"I think I'm a bit too tipsy to drive home safely. Is it ok if I stay." Regina asked having had three glasses of wine at that point. It confused Regina, she was not used to people offering for her to stay at there house. No one had ever trusted her enough not to kill them.

" That's fine let me get you some Pj's, follow me," Emma said. She walked away from Regina who began to walk behind her. She couldn't help but notice how good Emma's butt looked in her jeans.

Emma leads her to a room.

"Two seconds I'll get you something of mine you can borrow," Emma said walking into her room. Regina stood by the door waiting. She looked around on the walls were pictures of Henry with his family. None of the photos had her in them which didn't surprise her. Emma came out her room and handed Regina shorts and a huge T-shirt with a huge peace sign on it.

" I stole it as a teenager, I thought it was cool, now it's just Pj's. It's one of the only things that I still have from then" she said. She led Regina to her bedroom. It was painted in a light Grey and the furniture was black and white. The floor was dark oak planks and there was a huge fluffy cream rug in the middle. Regina found herself shocked to admit she actually liked the decor.

" Would you like a hot chocolate?" Emma asked because she fancied one.

"Ok, but put everything you can in it," She said smiling at Emma a little.

"Sure thing Madam Major, would you like marshmallows and chocolate sauce" Emma asked. Regina just looked at her.

" I meant everything, I don't eat a lot of junk food so I'd like to make the most of it," She said. Emma nodded at her, smiling and walked away. Emma made the hot chocolate and put on wiped cream, marshmallow and chocolate sauce. She also managed to find two flakes to put on the top. She put a few extra marshmallows on Regina's drink

She carried it carefully up the stairs, trying not to ruin her masterpieces.

She lightly tapped the bottom of the door with her foot to knock.

Regina opened the door. And all Emma thought when she saw her, was how good Regina looked in her top.

"Do you wanna come in for a while in still a bit restless," Regina asked not ready to be alone yet.

"Sure, we can watch videos on my Laptop," Emma said pulling up YouTube. They both went to sit on the bed. Emma and Regina took it in turns to choice videos.

After a while Regina fell asleep, she was lent against Emma with her head rested on the blond's shoulder. Emma had to get up slowly. She carefully removed herself and stood up. She looked at Regina and noticed she looked peacefully asleep. Emma picked up the blanket and lay it on her. She walked out the room and turned the light off, closing the door behind her. She walked into her room and got dressed lazily in her own Pj's. She collapsed on the bed and fell asleep instantly.

Looking back on it Emma had started to trust Regina way before the Pan incident. She just needed to know why Regina had pulled away from her. Most likely because she was just caught up in the moment. Emma let herself believe that in the hope it wouldn't hurt as much when it was true. She and Regina had just clicked after that day. They met almost every day for lunch and sometimes even breakfast. Emma discovered that Regina's personality and presents made hanging out with her addicting. When Regina wasn't there, the space around Emma seemed unsettling somehow.

She hoped that Regina would talk to her before she got married. Emma knew what she would have to say to her. She was counting on the fact that Regina usually liked doing things sooner rather than later.

She hopped Regina found her before it was too late.

An: Thanks for reading XD


	4. Knightingale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina finds a horse

It had been a couple of days and Regina was starting to get bored with her isolation. She was done crying about it and she wanted to make a plan.

She decided to go for a walk. She magicked up a coat and walked out of her little shack in the woods. She decided to follow the small stream that flowed through Storybrooke. After a while, she sat down on a fallen log. She had been walking for sometime and had gotten a bit lost. It was becoming dark. Regina knew that she could magic herself back to her hut but she was still determined she wasn't lost.

She took a few moments to get herself together. She sat on the log taking deep breaths to try and calm herself. When she heard a strange noise coming from the distance. Whatever it was it sound hurt. Regina quickly got to her feet. She listened for the noise again and worked out where it was coming from. Her years of listening for spy's or assassins paying off. She walked quickly towards the noise. 

There was no path and she had to climb through bushes but the noise was getting clearer. In the distance she could see something lay on the ground, its leg caught in a hunters trap. Crying out for someone to help it. Regina ran as fast as she could. As she got closer, she saw the animal trapped was a horse. It was full sized and was wriggling around on its side panicking. Regina wasn't sure what to do she used her magic to free the horse who was visibly thankful for her help.

It relaxed a little but was still crying in pain and shaking with fear. It was now trying to tend to its wound. Regina walked towards the horse carefully. Making sure she didn't startle it. She was surprised to see that the horse wasn't scared of her. Most animals tended to run away or try to attack. She knelt down beside the horse's leg. She brushed her hand across the top of the horse's head. It lifted it away from its injured foot. She put her other hand over the top of its foot. She used her powers to help it heal faster.

The cuts were bad but nothing she could help the horse with. She made a thick badge appear and fastened it to the horse's leg. She then moved behind the horses head and helped it to stand up. It wasn't quite used to walking with three legs so it wobbled slightly, but Regina steadied it. She Magicked them back to her hut. There was a shed on the side of the hut it was big enough for the horse. She had discovered the hut just before Emma got to town. She had found it when she had left work because there had been nothing to do at her office and had she wanted to go for a walk. 

The hut was built with huge logs that had been fitted together. There was a simple wooden door. On the right side was a shed, someone had converted into a pen. Regina thought it would be ok for the horse until the morning. She could go get hay and a few apples from her house. She walked the horse into the shed. There was a large pig pen in the corner. She walked the horse into the pen. It almost collapsed in fatigue. 

Regina helped lower it to the ground slowly. She magicked up a bowl of water, hay, and pellets. It drank gladly the water but didn't touch the food. She tried everything she could to get it to eat but it refused. It fell asleep in protest. Regina decided to check on its wound, the bandage she had put on was soaked in blood and she needed to change it. The horse whimpered slightly in its sleep when Regina had to be gentle as she unwrapped it. It was bleeding less, but she decided to try and stop the blood and clean it as much as she could then wrap it in a clean bandage. She managed to stop the blood a little and take away some of the dirt, carefully she wrapped it's leg back up.

Regina realized that she hadn't seen if the horse was a girl or boy she looked at the horse's stomach. She could see that it had every indication of being female. It's almost silver eyes opened to look at her. She stroked its long black mane and it nudged its head towards her hand slightly. She sat down next to the horses head and continued to stroke its head. It lifted its head lazily and lay it down onto of Regina's crossed legs.

The gesture made Regina smile. She stroked the side of its face and the top of its nose. For some reason, the horse trusted her already. She took a good look at the horse, wondering if she had met it in the enchanted forest. Its fur was such a dark brown that it almost looked black except for the large white mark on her nose. Regina felt like she recognized it then she remembered she saw a curiously shaped patch on the inside of its injured leg. The only horse she knew that had a patch on it that looked like this was the one she had tried to sacrifice for the curse. She looked down at the full-sized horse.

She remembered when her Mother had first studded out Rocinante, she had told Regina she could keep one. So Regina picked one of the smallest ones. Her mother warned her it would die but Regina still wanted to look after it. She fed it the same as its Dad, but in smaller portions. She started to walk her with her Dad. She decided to call her Knightingale. She thought it should be named something heroic to match its genes. Her mother had become annoyed with her because she was spending all her time looking after the fowl. So one night her Mother set the poor baby horse free. Regina had been upset when her Mother had told her it hadn't made it. Now Regina knew what happened and saw that her Mother had lied it her, again.

She lifted its head slowly off her lap, once it had fallen asleep. She slowly stood up and walked into the hut. It had a small light hanging from the roof. In the left back of the hut was a bed with Regina's best sheets. She didn't use them because they were expensive, but because the soft material made it easier for her to sleep. She started to cook a small meal for herself. She was surprised to have found Knightingale. She could have come across any horse at all and the one she found just happened to be related to her beloved childhood horse. She smiled at the thought of maybe being able to ride a horse again if her leg healed well enough. She put her food on a plate and sat in an armchair.

She slowly ate her food getting more tired with each bite. She had used her magic a lot more today, more than she usually did. She finished and washed her plate and put it back in the small cupboard. She lay on her bed and closed her eyes waiting for what felt like forever, she fell asleep fast.  
Emma had a restless night. A certain nightmare kept racing through her head in her sleep and she couldn't bring herself to go back to sleep. She went downstairs and made herself a hot chocolate and grabbed a few cookies. She headed up to bed. She sat down and grabbed her laptop. She decided to watch a few films to try and get her to sleep. So she ate her cookies and drank her chocolate she could feel herself falling asleep. She lay down and closed her eyes.

Sooner than she'd liked it too, her alarm went off. She tried to bring herself out of her sleep. She went downstairs and saw Henry sat at the table eating his breakfast.

"Alright Mom, you heard from other Mom yet?" He asked smiling.

" No, she hasn't called since the other day. We fell out after you went to bed." Emma said, not wanting to talk to her son about what was happening with his mother.

"You two give me whiplash. Don't worry Mom, she'll come back soon" Henry said, smiling at his panicking Mother.

" Right I have I go to the Station, see you later Kid" She waved him goodbye as she grabbed Regina coat to wear and drove to the station. When she arrived she reached into her pocket to get the key. She felt something made of paper in her pocket. She gently pulled it out. It was a paper swan. She smiled to her self. Regina must have made it before she gave her the coat. Maybe she left it in there by accident.

Emma couldn't understand why Regina didn't just talk to her.

She and Regina had been stupid enough to ignore the signs. Emma had made Regina's magic make the hat work, they created an eclipse together and they killed a hell beast together. Regina was the person she needed around her to ground her magic so it would do as it was told. She wanted the link they had to be stronger, but she wasn't sure that was possible if she married Hook. She did love Hook but not the same way she loved Regina. When Regina and Emma accepted that Henry needed both of them, they got along better than Emma had gotten along with anyone.

She had been too scared to tell Regina how she felt. Then it had been too late. Regina had found Robin and Emma had decided it was time she tried to get over it.

So she had given Hook a chance. He was sweet at some points and looked after her. Emma just felt disconnected from him. She and craved seeing Regina even more. Once Robin died Emma made sure she was there for Regina, but Hook made it difficult for her to look after her friend.

When Hook disappeared, she was upset sure, but mostly because she knew she probably wouldn't get another chance at happiness. Then Regina started to help her and Emma couldn't help but feel the connection between them getting stronger. Then Hook had been brought back and Emma's head, since, had been stuck in a never-ending shouting match.

She wanted Regina so bad but Hook had asked her to marry him. In an attempt to make her Mother happier she said yes. She almost instantly regretted it when she saw Regina's reaction to the news. She had acted normal and congratulated her but Emma saw the flicker of pain in the woman's eyes. It gave Emma hope.

Then she went and messed up the only chance she had gotten to show Regina how she felt. She walked into the station after picking up a quick coffee from Grannies. Her Dad was sat filling out paperwork when she walked in. He looked up and greeted her.

"Hey, Emma I'm just catching up on all the paper whilst Regina's away. You wouldn't know where she's gone. Her assistant told me she had taken a few days off. No one has seen her" He said filling out as much of it as he could manage.

"No I don't know where she is, I spent a whole night looking for her but fell asleep. I woke up and realized I needed to get back to work." She said trying to sound casual. Her father wasn't as observant about Regina and Emma as her mother. Emma didn't want to start something now so she tried to control her emotions.

"Ok, so what the plan," Emma asked.

" I don't know it's been a slow day," David said finishing what he was doing.

"I'm just going to check something," She said and went to her office. She pulled a huge map of Storybrooke from her desk and studied it to find anywhere she hadn't been. She circled areas on the map and folded it back up. Her father came into her office.

"What are you doing with that?" He asked Emma wondering why his daughter was acting weird.

"I'm going to look for Regina". She said zipping her bag up and putting it on her back.

"Want to go to lunch first?" He father asked concerned she was overworking herself.

"I'll grab something quick but I need to start looking before it gets dark."She said not wanting David to think she was going to stop looking.

"That's fine, let's go, I'll pay," he said then Walked out the station, Emma followed after him.

They got to Grannies and took seats at the counter. David ordered their food whilst Emma was trying to figure out the best way to find Regina in the littlest amount of time possible.

A plate with a hamburger on and fries was pushed into of the map. She looked up to see Granny smiling at her.

"Look, honey, she will find you when she is ready to talk. She is a strong witch if she doesn't want to be found she won't be." The older lady said seeing that Emma was stressing herself out.

" I know I just need to talk to her. She has gotten the wrong end of the stick about something and she won't let me explain my half the story" She said getting slightly annoyed that everyone was trying to stop her finding Regina. Of course, they didn't understand why she needed to find her but no one should be living in the woods by themselves. Granny just smiled at her and Emma started eating.

"So how is Hook doing?" David asked wondering if his daughter had seen her fiancee.

"I'm not sure, he was ok last time I saw him, but I haven't seen much of him since Regina went missing." She said, not exactly sure she wanted to talk to her Dad about Hook. Her father and he had started to become friends and Emma didn't want to ruin it, so she pretended everything was normal.

" Do you want to come with me before you head out to find her, I'm meeting him at the docks," David asked not wanting his Daughters wedding being ruined by Regina's disappearance. Emma with a mouth full of fries shook her head.

"I've got to be somewhere" Emma half lied, She didn't want her father to think she was avoiding Hook. That conversation was between her and her maybe future husband. She was still unsure that Hook was the right person for her. She knew Regina and her would never be together because they both would never have the guts to talk properly about their feelings. She just wasn't sure that Hook would be right for Henry and her. When Hook left, Henry hadn't seemed to put out by it. 

Emma had been upset but because of the person, she thought she was in love with abandoned her. She couldn't get over the feeling of not being able to trust Hook out of her head. He's helped them a lot, but she never really knew his reasons for helping. If it was to be with her then maybe he wasn't the right person for her. Regina had helped them once she realized the only way she would be able to live her life the way she always wanted too, was by helping the people she wronged and becoming the hero she would have been if Cora hadn't messed up her childhood.

An idea popped into her head. It might be a bit risky and she wasn't sure it would work, but she was going to visit the Queen's one and only sister, to see if she would help find Regina. Emma quickly finished her lunch and said goodbye to her Dad, who was surprised by Emma's new energy and couldn't get a word in before she picked up the map and walked out.

She walked to Zelena's house and knocked on the door. She waited a few seconds and soon enough she answered the door, little Robin was fast asleep on her shoulder. She was rubbing his back comfortingly.

"What do you want?" She said in a voice that didn't match her comforting actions to the child in her arms.

"Do you know where your sister's gone. I haven't seen her a few days" Emma said, trying to seem casual but failing to hide her nervousness.

" You two have another lovers tiff?" The witch said egging Emma to respond to her comment.

"Something like that" Emma said not bothering to react to the woman's words.

"Oh, so you've lost her then. That's brilliant! Just so I have a heads up, she wasn't in a murder spree mood was she? I don't want to wake up tomorrow with half the town dead and be left with the dwarfs." The witch said getting bored of the conversation.

"To be honest I don't know her as well as you do. If anyone would know where she is, it would be you, so I'm sorry, but I'm no use to you" she said going to close the door.

" I know, I was just wondering if you could help me make a locator spell," She asked.

" Didn't you listen to anyone around here. I'm pretty sure one of them would have told you that if Regina doesn't want to be found, she won't be" Zelena said, getting a little pissed that the blond was still bothering her. She needed to go back inside and bath her son.

"I know but when we last talked she was really upset about something we were talking about. In fact, she asks me to leave the house and when I came back she was gone" Emma said starting to panic that she wouldn't find Regina in time.

"If she thinks you need to talk she be there to talk. You know what she's like. She will get to you when she is ready, not before and not when she no longer can. Trust me on this she's going to come back." Zelena said. Without saying another word she closed the door and left Emma stood on the step.

"Ok good talk," Emma said to herself before she walked away from the door.

Zelena walks back into her house and lay Robin in his basket and started to carry him upstairs. She turned to go upstairs when she suddenly face to face with Regina.

"Why are you here now, at least your little girlfriend announced herself you just wanted to scare me to death. God, where did you learn your manners" She asked obviously knowing the answer. Regina just lifted an eyebrow at her sister.

" Look I don't want to bother you I just need you to help me with something," She said her voice serious and showing Zelena that this was something important.

" On one condition," Zelena asked picking Robin back out of his basket and handing him to Regina to hold. Regina smiled down at Robin.

"Anything you want," She said looking back up with desperate eyes.

" OK" Zelena said, smiling at her sister.

Emma sat in the Bug for a while. She had parked up outside of Regina's. Maybe if she stayed there long enough she might get a glimpse of the woman. She shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. Just when she was about to give up, she heard a noise coming from inside the house. She checked all the windows, just as she went to turn her engine on she looked up at the window for Regina's bedroom. She was surprised and relieved to see Zelena stood next to Regina. They looked as though they were searching for something. Emma was angry at Zelena told her she hadn't seen her sister, unless she was lying to her, which was very much a possibility with Zelena.

She couldn't move, she just stared at the window. She just stared at Regina hoping the other woman would notice her. Regina seemed to find whatever it was they were looking for and showed it to her sister. Regina glimpsed out the window for a second making eye contact with Emma. Then she magicked her self away. Emma stayed there for a while unsure of what to do.

She turned the engine on her Bug on and drove to her parent's house to see how they were.

She knocked on the apartment door something she learned was a good idea to do before entering their apartment.

She heard Snow shout come in. She opened the door and saw David with Neil on his lap, Snow was making their dinner.

"Hey Mum, Dad. Anything new?" She asked wondering if in her attempt to find Regina if she had missed anything exciting.

"Not really, Neil made a noise that sounded slightly like he was saying Mum but it needed up him just mumbling. " Snow said a little disappointed.

"It's a start though, soon enough you'll be able to understand something he says," Emma said, going to sit next to David, who handed her Neil to hold.

"You know I never thought I'd like baby's, but they're pretty awesome. Being all little people and everything. It's kinda cool, sometimes I wish I kept Henry" She said, she missed the look her parents gave each other. It was between sad and excited.

"So you want a baby then?" Snow asked her coming to sit down next to her and handed her a bottle to feed Neil.

"Yeah I guess with the right person," She said, she realized what she said too late.

"What do you mean the right person, aren't you about to marry the right person," David asked. Emma just looked down at Neil and stayed quite. Snow nudged her a little.

"Dad I'm not sure he's who I thought he was, I mean I know he didn't mean to go but he still threatened to leave me. It's making me doubt that I should marry him." She said after being prompted by her mother.

"So your not going to marry him, I thought you loved him," He said sadly that his daughter had told him she might not be getting married after all. He was sure this was the thing that would make the town have hope again. He didn't want to push her though.

"I do still but it doesn't feel right Dad there's something missing. The person I always saw my self with was going to make me want to be a better person when I am with them, even though they accept me, I would want to be better for them. He just doesn't make me want to be a better me for him." Emma said sadly.

"Maybe not yet but he might one day Emma, you never know he might surprise you," He said.

"I think I already found that person today, but I've lost them and no one is bothering to help me find them so, I'm going to leave before you guilt trip me into marrying Hook.

"It's in two days time. Have a chat with him before doing anything rash."Snow advised.

Emma nodded and stood.

"Ok, I'm going home to sleep. I'll think about it Mom. I know that the town was excited and you and Dad especially" She said she left the apartment after hugging them bye.

She drove back to the house. Henry was already lounging on the sofa on his pulled his headphones out before he talked.

" Hey Mom you find her," He asked knowing she probably spent the day looking for Regina. He wasn't sure why his Mom's wouldn't admit that they liked each other, but his Mum was marrying Hook so he guessed he just had to accept that they never might. He knew his Mothers weren't the sort to make huge romantic gestures but a part of him wished that was why Regina had gone missing.

"Yep I spotted in her window but she disappeared before I could do anything." She said moving his feet off the sofa and sitting down.

"She'll be back, trust me she wouldn't leave us," Henry said. He sounded so sure it made Emma. Feeling a little reassured. She just nodded at him.

"So what's for dinner?"He asked.

"Oh crap I knew I missed something," She said disappointed in herself for forgetting she had to feed her son.

"Grannies then," Henry said standing up. "Can I drive?" He asked giving it chance.

"No, I remember last time. Not until you've had a few lessons" She said.

"And your Mom says it ok, she will kill me if I didn't ask her first" Emma laughed imagining how the conversation was going to go. She tiredly got up and Henry handed her Regina's coat.

" I noticed you've worn that a lot," He said smirking slightly at his Mom.

"It's a good coat," Emma said trying to dismiss the game of 24 questions that was about to begin, she didn't.

"How did you get it," He asked raising an eyebrow. Something he picked up from Regina.

"I woke up in the forest and it was lay on me." She said casually like it didn't mean anything.

"Have you checked the pockets?" He asked he knew his mother so well.

She pulled the Sean from her pocket.

"Just this," she said. Before she could stop him Henry took it. He inspected the swam with great detail looking for a sign that his mother had meant to leave it.

He turned it upside down. He saw writing on the bottom that said

'To Emma, open it.'

He handed Emma the Swan and pointed to the writing. Emma unsure if she wanted to open it in front of Henry.

"You don't have to read it out loud," He said. Knowing he would know what his mother said to Emma because it would be written on her face.

She nodded and opened the swan.

She found it difficult to unfold it but she managed to do it without ripping it.

Henry was right, inside was a letter addressed to her.

Dear Emma

I know Henry is with you right now because you probably wouldn't think I knew how to make a Swan. But Henry taught me a while ago how to make them and I thought you would like it.

I wrote to you because I needed to tell you I needed to go away for a while to work something out but I know what I have to do, I even have a friend helping me. Their sick at the moment, but I can't wait for you and Henry to meet them.

I will see you soon and I hope you and Henry are ok. My best to the Charming's.

Love Regina xxx

Ps

I haven't given up on you yet Miss Swan.

Henry knew most of what Regina had said, some of it had gotten fuzzy. But he knew what the bottom said.

Emma forced the tears back that threatened to fall. She walked out the door as Calmly as she could manage. Henry walked behind her grinning, but in his head, he was shouting "Yes Mom".

They got in the bug. Henry still hasn't stopped grinning.

"Why are you so happy," Emma said seeing him smiling like a goof.

"No reason just, you know your getting married soon I'm happy for you," He said now seeing how she reacted to Hook.

"Yeah sure kid, don't get yourself all geared up weddings are boring," She said hoping her son didn't get too excited about it. She wasn't sure she could do it yet. She just smiled in response, She was completely oblivious to the fact that he knew more than she thought he did.

"I'm pretty sure this one is going to be amazing," He said."And not only because there will be cake" He grinned.

"Your totally my kid." She said smiling at him.


	5. Talking to a horse!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina makes friends with Knightingale

Regina woke up in her bed at the hut. She had been forced to visit her sister to get her help in finding something she needed from the house. She had her keep watch whilst Regina searched her house to find what she needed.

After her sister's heart had slowed down after she had almost scared her half to death. What could she say sometimes it's fun to make people jump, her sister especially. She had explained to Zelena what her plan was and told her what she needed to find. Then the questions started at first her sister asked simple questions like.

"So are you and Emma OK?" Zelena asked looking at her sister with weary eyes.

"We're fine, I just need to do this so she gets it. I'm not good at the whole romantic speech thing." Regina said.

"You think she likes you back, what makes you so sure?" Zelena asked trying to keep her Sisters eye was finding it hard to look at her sister.

" I can't tell you!" Regina almost laughed at how stupid sounded telling her Sister the Wicked witch that she kissed the savior.

"Why, am I not I'm your Sister?" Zelena said offended that Regina didn't trust her."And would you drop the W word I front of Robin? I don't want him to think I'm something to be scared of, you know some kids have nightmares about that stuff!" She said to her sister, who didn't really seem to be listening.

"Sorry it's just a bit embarrassing," Regina said trying to turn away from her sister only to he we sister walk in front of her again.

"Embarrassing how?" Zelena said suddenly a lot more interested in what her sister had to say. Regina looked at her sister for a while working out if she could trust her sister. The will to talk about it won over.

" I kissed her," Regina said quietly, blushing a little.

"You what!" Zelena said slightly excited.

"I kissed her, then I ran away," She said a bit louder.

"Oh my god, you two are so sweet," Zelena said, slightly making fun of her younger Sisters embarrassment, she could see her sister's bright red cheeks.

"Look if you like just tell her," Zelena said " just POOF, Hey Emma I like you, will you consider leaving the pirate for me," Zelena said trying to make her sister feel better.

" No that won't work this is Emma it needs to be more than a ..." Regina looked at her sister unable a to think of another word. "POOF"

"Oh my God you love her don't you, I knew you took Robin going so easily. If it was me I would have killed something or at least been a bit angrier" Zelena said smiling at Regina who just looked at her.

"No offense," Zelena said. Not really caring if her sister was offended.

" None took, I can't say for sure I am, but I know I like her more than the pirate. I just need to prove it" She said.

"Come on then let's go get this then," Zelena said and they both disappeared.

Emma sat on her bed trying to go to sleep her mind had been playing over what she should do. Hook was an amazing person. He was cool and handsome. There was a spark with them and sometimes she noticed he was different now after his little trip. Maybe the sea was all he needed to feel better about them. Perhaps this thing with Regina was just her getting cold feet.

There was a knock on her bedroom door. She thought It would be Henry saying good night having only just turned off the console downstairs. She had given up trying to remember what one he had. Regina liked to spoil him a little. Why not the Kid deserved it. He's helped them save the town enough to earn them.

She opened the door and was for some reason surprised to see it was Hook.

"Hey Love, the boy told me you where up here, you know you should send him to bed." He said.

"What's the point he has one in there too." She laughed.

"Why does he need so much entertainment, I mean at first it was easy I just took him out on the boat, but now I have to compete with Super Mario and something called COD, I'm not any good at either them, having one hand makes it difficult to hold. He did try to make it easier bless him, but it was a not for me I got rather angry rather quickly" He said laughing. Emma laughed at him also, seeing for a second the man she had fallen for.

"You know I think that submarine picked you up for a reason, I think you needed to go on one last adventure," Emma said seeing him beam at her.

"Yes maybe your right, but I would have rather taken you with me," he said his smile dropping a little.

"Maybe one day," She said smiling at him. She tried to keep her cool when a voice in her head screamed: "Don't marry him".

She usually ignored that voice but for some reason she didn't she just kept on smiling as Hook came into the bedroom and sat on the bed.

" So are we going to do the whole don't see the bride before the wedding thing." He asked casually.

"Yeah, my mother insisted on it saying it was a family tradition along with a long list of other things that were a family tradition. Some of them she allowed me to drop but that one stuck. Sorry but it was free and it was that or hire a string orchestra, that isn't in my budget" She laughed a little when remembering how excited her Mary Margret was planning the wedding.

"That ok Doll, I'll just wait for you at the altar." He said smoothly " For now though get in this bed."

Regina was grooming Knightingale. Every couple of hours she had been checking on her wound and making sure to use what she could to make it heal fast. She didn't like to see the poor horse, and now a close friend, in pain. She hummed as she stroked the brush over the horse's hair. She also decided to put a few braids in her main. She was surprised to see the horse be so calm about Regina caring for it. She hadn't had a connection like this with an animal since she gave up her great steed.

Regina decided that she was going to keep her. She didn't want her roaming the forest when it was full of traps that could hurt her again.

Knightingale had gotten stronger since the accident. She could now stand up by her self and the wound had healed over nicely. She would be ready in time to be moved.

She continued to braid the beautiful horse's mane. Now and again it would nudge her with its nose and she would stroke it's head. She smiled down at her new friend.

"You know I think I'm going to get you groomed and once you're ready we can go on our first ride." She said. The horse looked at her.

"Don't worry we will go slow, I haven't done it in a while?" She said, confused because she was talking to a horse but for some reason it made her feel calmer.

"Do you want a carrot?" She asked Nightingale nodded heavily and enthusiastically. Regina made a carrot appearing in her hand and handed it to her. She took it gratefully.

"You welcome," she said, rubbing her head lightly as the horse chewed on her carrot.

"Well I'm off to bed now, tomorrow is going to be a hard day for both of us." She said. She rubbed the top of her nose and walked out of the pen. She had to reinforce the gate this morning because Knightingale escaped and woke Regina up.

Regina went to her bed and lay down. She magicked herself into Emma's top, that she had taken, and a pair of long Pyjama pants.

She pulled her duvet over herself and tried to sleep. It took a while but soon enough she was asleep.


	6. Eclipse

I know this is a bit of a slow burner, but it's for a reason trust me XD

Emma had found out she was at her parent's house the night before the night before her wedding, she was supposed to be at Regina's in hopes of getting a peaceful night sleep. This fact upset her. The one person she had felt she could count on had disappeared. It made her want to cry. She still hadn't seen her since the window. At the moment she was cooking breakfast for Hook and Henry.

Henry was downstairs first.

"So what did you and Hook talk about last night," He asked wondering what Hook was doing there if his Mum told him that's he liked Regina.

"Well I thought about it and I think I should, and I want to?" The last sentence coming out sounding like a question, but Emma covered it by continuing to talk.

"We talked about you and the fact that your Grandmother is insisting on us not seeing each other before the wedding." She said.

"If I was you I would have gone for the orchestra, much more interesting," he said laughing lightly.

"True kid, there you go, I didn't burn it that much this time," She said proudly.

"Well done Mum," He said rolling his eyes but laughing lightly.

He dug into his food. Hook came downstairs a few minutes later yawning but already dressed.

"Morning sweetheart, Kid. What's for breakfast" he said walking over casually and jumping effortlessly onto a stall.

" This" Henry said unenthusiastically.

"Oy next time you can do your own Mr" Emma said with a fake angry look. Henry just stuck his younger at her. She replied with the same action. Hook stared at the two confused. Shaking head he didn't say anything, just laughed to himself.

Hook and Emma talked whilst Henry ate his food in silence as fast as he could. He quickly leaped off of his chair and walked into the Front room. He left his plate on the side. Emma shouted to him.

" Hey you wouldn't do that at your Mom's house, next time put it in the sink"

" I will" He shouted lazily back. She heard the sound of the TV being turned on and game music coming through the speakers.

"Does he not like me now" Hook said looking at where Henry just left them.

"No, it's not that, he's just adjusting," she said not sure why Henry was not talking to Hook.

" Sure I just hope he's ok when we are getting married," Hook said smiling at Emma who smiled back and ignored the voice in her head shouting at her to say something.

"Ok I've got to get to work to finish some stuff up for the wedding, can you keep an eye on Henry for me," She asked Hook hoping that Hook hanging out with Henry, would cheer Henry up and reassure Henry she was doing the right thing.

" Sure, it will give me a chance to talk to him," He said.

"Go easy on him, he's getting used to the idea that's you will be around a lot more," Emma said getting Regina's coat.

"That's fancy" Hook commented.

"Regina lent it to me, I've taken a liking to it. It makes me feel powerful and sheriff like" She said laughing and walking out. She wasn't going to tell him it was because it still smelled of Regina and she couldn't bring herself to let it go.

She climbed into her Bug and drove to the station. She walked in and realized It was one of those rare times when she got there before her Dad did.

She sat down in her seat and pulled up a search engine. She typed in horses for sale. She began to look through the horses. She wanted to get something for Regina that showed her she was sorry for leaving her and not talking to her sooner.

She saw a beautiful blond horse called Eclipse and thought it was perfect. It was a male horse and had been raised by an old lady who used to ride it constantly until she grew to Ill to ride. The old lady had passed away recently and the daughter was looking for someone to look after the horse.

Emma grabbed her coat and took the address. It looked like she was about to buy a walked out of the station and got back into her car.

She was going on a road trip and Henry was coming with her. She called his number and he picked up straight away.

"Hey Mum," he said sounding bored.

"Hey kid what's up? I was wondering if you wanted to go on a road trip with me." She said.

"Yeah sure Mum beats being here," He said in his teenage monotone voice.

"Ok I'll honk when I'm outside," She told him.

" Sure I'll be there, love you Mom bye," He said he put the phone down.

" Bye then kid," She said to herself. She pulled away from the station. She picked up some road trip food and drove to her house. Once outside she beeped the horn. Like he said Henry came out the house and walked to the car.

"We're you waiting by the door or something," She asked laughing slightly at how fast he ha left the house.

"Hook tried talking to me, it got boring. He kept going on about you two getting married like I should be excited about it" He said not quite realizing what he said.

"What do you mean your not excited about it," Emma said wondering why her son wasn't happy she was getting married. He ha to think of something to cover up his mistake.

"I don't like having him around. He makes me nervous trying to impress me." He said a little grumpy.

"Well, he's just trying to stay on our good side. But it's ok because I saved you. I have a surprise." She said grinning and starting her car. She had chosen lots of different CD's to take with her and let Henry pick one. He put in an ACDC in wondering what a band named after letters of the alphabet sang.

"Their awesome at one point had all their all of the albums. I think I still have a vinyl somewhere" she said smiling as the music started. She was singing along rocking out in the car and Henry was attempting to rock out too.

They turned the music off half way there and Henry opened up the road travel snacks.

"Here you go Mum," He said putting the end of a red vine in her mouth.

She used her left hand to pull it and took a bite.

"Thanks, kid," she said.

"So what are we doing and what's with the big trailer doing attached to the back of the Bug. He asked curious about what they were driving too.

" I just need to get something, I think it will help your Mom loads." She said reassuring her son that everything was OK and that she had a plan.

"Ok I trust you just don't tell Mom this was anything to do with me," He said, knowing what Emma was doing would probably just annoy Regina. She wasn't one for big gestures. Normally neither was Emma. The pair continued on their adventure. By lunchtime, they got to the right area. Emma followed the directions and then saw a huge farm off in the distance. She pulled up outside. Henry gave her a strange look.

"Trust me," She said walking to the front door of the farmhouse. She knocked loudly on the door. A middle-aged woman answered smiling but looking a little dazed and out of sorts. It didn't surprise Emma, it was the same look Regina had when she thought of Cora and her Father.

" Hey, she's this way." The woman said walking out the front door and leading them to a stable.

"He's really good for learning, Mom taught us how to ride on him. I must have been at least sixteen when Mom came home with her. It was my job to groom him. Now I live in the city that's no place to own a horse." She said seeming sad.

" My husband won't move, our daughter was devastated." She said.

"I know what you mean. I had a pet dog once I found him on the street I called him scruffy and he came with me everywhere until my foster family found him and took him to a dog shelter." She said remembering the lovely doe-eyed dog that brought her so much happiness.

"You might bond fast with Eclipse then, he was orphaned by his mother too." The woman smiled empathetically towards Emma. Henry stayed quite trying to work out what was happening.

She led them into the stable and walked them over to the horse. He looked even more beautiful in person. He had lovely blond hair and his mane was white. The woman had even French braided his mane in places.

"This is Eclipse." The woman introduced. He was named that because that's when she was born during an Eclipse. My mother used to think they were magical. She would sit outside and watch them.

" I loved seeing them, they are so cool," Emma said thinking of the time her and Regina had actually managed to create one.

"You're getting Mom a horse," Henry asked out of the blue.

Emma being transfixed by the Horse was stunned by Henry's voice.

" Yeah, she said it's what she used to do for fun, the one thing her Mother let her obsess about," Emma said looking at the horse and trying to take in how magnificent it was.

" Could we pet her?" Emma asked the lady.

"Sure, I'll get him out for you," She said grabbing a lead and clipped it onto the horse.

"I bathed him and put his head fitting on ready." She said opening the horse's door and leading him outside to a fenced area. Emma patted the horses head and Henry even started to stroke it. The horse seemed comfortable enough.

"He's lovely" Henry smiled at the lady clearly already In love with the horse.

"We definitely have to get him for Mom," Henry said, smiling at him Emma and encouraging her to get the horse.

"Is it ok if you help me get him in the horse crate." She asked.

"You're pulling him home with the Bug," The woman said wondering if Emma would get it home.

"Trust me I googled it, it's fine" Henry added. Phone in his hand.

" There you go were fine," Emma said the woman nodded.

" Ok, I'm asking for $150 for him." She said. Emma nodded and dug the money out of her jacket pocket.

"Thank you" The woman helped to get the horse in and tightened the door lock for Emma.

"There you good, he's safe in there now," The lady said taking a few steps toward her house.

"Ok thank you," Emma said getting in the car and waiting for Henry before starting the engine and driving off.

"So we just bought Mom a horse, she is either going to kill us or love us. I'm betting on a mix of the two" Henry said. Emma just gave him a look.

Regina prepared her dinner for the night. She knew she would have to do something soon but she was waiting for the right moment.

Even though she had been staying away from Emma didn't mean she hadn't been keeping an eye on her. She realized the blond was still using her coat. For some reason that made butterflies dance in her stomach. Emma and Henry had been in the car singing loud songs at the top of the voices.

She cut up the vegetables neatly and placed them in a pan. She placed her meat into the oven and went to sit down to read until it was her spare time she had read quite a few books. She had struggled to find ones she liked. She looked through the bookshelf and picked one up. It had leather binding and looked old. It was called Dorian Grey. She and Emma had watched the film and to be honest, it wasn't for Regina, but she thought that maybe the book would be better. She skipped through the first pages until she got to chapter one.

She began to read. After a while, she got back up to get her food. The book was almost as bad as the film, but it was a lot more violent. She ate her food and went to check on Knightingale. She was asleep. Regina had to change her bandage. She carefully unwrapped the horse's leg. She had woken up but wasn't startled by Regina touching her. Regina saw the wound was healing well and was excited and nervous that tomorrow it should be OK to ride her. She would have used magic but didn't want to damage it further.

"You legs looking a lot better. I think for tonight we will let the air get to it. Would you like a treat before bed" She asked the horse who just stared at her. She magicked up an apple and instantly the horse's eyes flicked to it. She nudged Regina's hand with her nose. Regina handed her the apple and she gently took it off her braying a little in thanks.

"It's alright girl plenty more when that came from." She said seeing the horse enjoying the apple.

"Ok I'm off to bed, I just came to say good night. " She said putting her arm around Knightingale's neck and tiptoeing to hug the horse. She walked back inside and lay on her bed after changing into her favorite pj's she loved sleeping in. Emma's t-shirt was all she needed to fall asleep.

Henry and Emma had gotten the horse successfully back to the stables. They walked him into a stable Emma had phoned to hire early that day after finding Eclipse. She and Henry said goodbye and asked the night carer to keep an eye on him and to call if he had problems with him.

They drove home. Henry was talking non stop about the horse. Just before the went inside Emma need to tell Henry to not mention it to Hook. Not wanting him to get jealous of her gesture to Regina.

"Henry remember don't mention it to him, we can't really afford it and he will go mental because he told me I spent to much time with her. Buying her a horse is a completely new problem."

He nodded just glad his Mom was slowly admitting her feelings for his Regina

" It's cool Mom, my lips are sealed," He said smiling at her showing her he could be trusted.

"Plus I have no interest in talking with Hoo at all he just say stupid things or ruin my games," He said a little ungrateful. But he was a teenager now.

"Henry I'm still marrying him, you just acting out because you don't want him living with us," She said knowing her son.

"That and something else I'm not going to tell you,"He said before she could ask him he got out the car and walked into their house.

Emma followed know he was heading to his room. She didn't have enough energy to follow him so she just got inside and crashed on the sofa.

"Long day?" Hook asked from the kitchen.

"The longest," She said sighing and closing her eyes. Hook came to sit next to her. She lay her head on his shoulder and he grabbed her hand and ran circle with his fingers on the back of her hand. It didn't exactly make her tingle but it felt comforting. She couldn't help but think about when Regina kissed her and it felt like there were fireworks going off in her head.

She smiled at Hook who smiled sweetly maybe this was enough for her.


	7. Always a Queen

AN: Ok so I think maybe my timeline got a bit messy? Just go with it cuz Swanqueen is approaching!

Regina's eyes opened to a small ray of light coming through the window opposite her bed. She still couldn't face the town all celebrating and getting ready for the wedding. She got up then quickly had a coffee and breakfast. She went out to the shed to get Knightingale ready for the day ahead of them. She gave her a large bowl of water and food. She gave her a few vegetables as well as a treat. The horse happily wolfed it down and was walking around Regina sniffing her for more Vegetables.

"I gave them all to you." She said watching as the horse nudged her in different places. She decided to try and get her saddle on Knightingale. She fetched it off a hook where it was hung in the shed. She slowly brought it over to Knightingale who looked cautiously at it, then at Regina. To make her feel better, Regina magicked up an apple.

"If you let me put this on you, you can have it," She said not quite believing she was bargaining with a horse.

The horse walked over to Regina who walked to its middle and placed the saddle on her back. She tightened all the straps and made sure it fit properly. To her disbelief, the saddle actually fitted the horse meaning she was the same size as her father had been.

"You're defiantly your father's daughter," she said cheerfully. She didn't care that she was talking to a horse anymore. If anything it seemed to calm both her and the horse.

She lay her hand on the top of her. Healing the leg a little and placed a protection spell on it to keep her from getting injured more.

She used an old wooden step to climb up onto Ida's back. Knightingale seemed unsure, she wouldn't stay still. Regina held onto her rains with old hand and magicked up another apple and waited until Knightingale had calmed a little more to give her it.

"Good girl, just listen to me and we will be fine," Regina said, encouraging the horse. It seemed to work. Knightingale was stood still now, waiting. Regina pressed her heels slightly into its sides and guided her safely out of the shed having to duck slightly to fit through the door. She made Knightingale walk slowly at first making sure she was okay on her leg.

She was amazed the horse was doing so well considering she hadn't been riding for so long. They continued their slow walk until they reached a clear path. Regina could tell that Knightingale wanted to go a little faster. She hit her sides with her heels hard enough for the horse to notice but not hard enough to hurt her. Knightingale noticed straight away. She began to do a steady trot. They started to gain a little speed and Regina found herself feeling younger and Happier. She realized she missed riding a horse more than she expected herself too.

She could stop herself from smiling as the wind caught her coat and it flew behind her as she bounces lightly on Knightingale's back as they glided on the forest path. In the distance to her left, she spotted a large open field. She smiled as an idea came into her head. As they approached the field Regina pulled the rains to the left to let Knightingale know where she wanted to go. Knightgale changed direction and set off on her new course. They reached the field in no time.

"Now girl, run as fast as you like," Regina said hitting Knigtingale's side three times rapidly to signal her to run.

Knightingale lifted up her front end instantly. Regina held onto the reins tight and held on. As soon as Knightingale feet touched the ground she started running. Everything passed Regina in a blur. She hadn't felt this free since she came to Storybrooke. The wind wiped her hair around. Her coat flew out behind her. She had lifted herself off the saddle slightly to make sure she didn't hurt herself. Knightingale was racing about Regina found herself grinning wildly. She felt so much better for letting go. She could tell Knightingale was becoming tired. The pulled on the rains to stop her.

Knightingale came to a stop gracefully.

"Let's go find some water you must be thirsty after all that running. She guided her to where she knew there was a clean stream.

When they found it Regina jumped off the back of Knightingale and tied her reins to a nearby tree. Regina sat next to the river and pulled a bottle of water out of her bag.

She magicked up two apples and began to eat one. Knightingale was still drinking enthusiastically. She was in the river cooling off her feet whilst lapping up the water. Regina waited until she was done and stood next to her to give Knightingale the other apple. She had almost finished hers now but Knightingale still managed to eat it before Regina finished so Regina gave her another one. Once Regina had finished hers after Knightingale had eaten her second. She took a few moments to enjoy the sun. Slowly she got the energy to stand up.

"Ready to go back home Knightingale?" Regina asked. She quickly checked the horse's leg to see how it was doing. It had almost healed now and she guessed it would probably be a scar by the morning.

She tried her luck and swung herself back on to Knightingale. Who this time was patiently waited for Regina to settle on her back. Regina was proud that she managed to get up the first time. Maybe it was in her blood. She's smirked to herself. She guided Knightingale back Home. They took a slow steady walk back to the hut

Emma was nervous she had spent the entire day at her Mother's house getting things ready for her wedding the next day. She was upset that Regina hadn't come back yet. Even if she decided to only be her maid of honor. Emma would be thankful that her best friend was there to support her.

Snow had been talking to her none stop. Emma had managed to blank most of it out using well-timed nods and noises of agreement now and again she would have to actually pay attention when her Mother realized Emma was not listening to her.

"I was thinking maybe we should light candles at the ends of the seats" Her Mother suggested. Emma wasn't listening and instead said.

" I bought Regina a horse yesterday," Emma said absentmindedly.

"You bought her a horse? Why would you do that if you're marrying Hook?" Snow said a little confused with Emma's words.

" Because a part of me still wants to not get married. I've managed to ignore it, but it was starting to get on my nerves. I don't want her to think I'm abandoning her. She mentioned she hadn't ridden a horse since she got here. I thought it would make her feel better" Emma said, knowing her Mother could see right through her. She didn't mention anything though instead, she sat by her daughter.

" I just want you to know that I'm proud of you whatever you chose to do, I'm here for you always," Snow said grabbing Emma's hand and squeezing it slightly.

"It will turn out ok you'll see true love always wins in the end," Snow said. "Now would you like coffee or a hot chocolate," She asked knowing what her daughter would pick.

"Hot chocolate..." Emma said.

" With cinnamon, yes I know," Snow said smiling at her daughter, who smiled back.

There was a knock on the door and Emma stood up to answer it. She opened the door. Hook was stood there with a bunch of flowers.

"Hey Beautiful I just wanted to give you these before I got too drunk to remember to do it later," He said he handed the flowers and kissed her lightly. Emma smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said. Hook and she was meant to be having the Hen do and whatever pirates call the huge piss up that have before they got married.

"I came to say goodnight and tell you I'll see you at the end of the aisle." He said. It sounded cheesy to Emma but before she could comment on it he had walked away.

"See you there I guess," she said closing the door and walking to the kitchen.

"What's that Emma" Snow asked.

"Nothing, just Hook being cheesy," She said trying to make it sound endearing but it just annoyed her. She was never one for romantic movies. It was another movie genre that she and Regina watched just to make fun of. Their favorite was the cheesy classics. Regina would make off-handed comments whilst Emma pretended to puke and laughed whenever the characters did something totally unrealistic.

She missed her movie nights with Regina. It was when the would bond the most. When they could let their evil sides come out for a little while in a healthy and hilarious way. It usually ended up with Emma laughing on the floor because a comment Regina made. Regina would sit there laughing at her as she would feebly to compose herself.

She enjoyed those moments of laughter. No one made her laugh like Regina could, not even Henry when he asked awkward questions or came up with his operation names.

"Mom do you want to watch a movie" She and Snow used to watch films together. When Snow had been Mary Margaret she had been a lot more ruthless that Snow was. Snow and Emma hadn't hung out and watch films together in a while so Emma was only guessing.

" Sure what do you want to watch," She asked.

" You pick something," She said knowing Mom already knew what she wanted to watch. Sure enough, Snow came back with the Shrek DVD. She and Henry used to watch it together and she loved the Donkey character.

" Have you seen the other films yet?" Emma asked.

"No This Is the only one I have," Snow said disappointed that she couldn't watch the other films.

"I'll ask Regina if you can borrow hers," She said. Her mother looked at her.

"How do you know she is coming back, she might've of left Storybrooke" She was confused when her daughter had taken such a likening to Regina. She knew how much her daughter and Regina connected but she hadn't realized they were this close. She looked at her daughter expectantly.

"I know she won't go without at least saying a proper goodbye Mother, she at least owes me that," Emma said.

" Why does she owe you," Snow asked.

" Because she left me before I could speak to her," Emma said feeling her tears starting to make an appearance. She stubbornly wiped them away before Snow could say anything else Emma grabbed her coat and left.

Regina and Knightingale had gotten back to the hut I no time. Regina had taken off the saddle and placed it back on the hook. She went back to the hut to start her dinner. She felt nervous about tomorrow not know how it was going to go. She needed to give Emma and her one last chance. She finished cooking her food and sat down to eat. Her stomach did flips making it difficult to for Regina to but she managed to finish her food.

She sat in the chair a while trying to calm her self. She magicked up a bottle of red wine and a glass and pour herself a drink. She sipped her drink then decided she wanted to look at the stars. She went outside. She went into the shed to get a seat. She looked at Knightingale, who was looking directly at her with begging eyes. Pleasing her to let her out of the pen.

" You want to look at the stars with me girl. She said fitting a head collar over her head. She clipped on the rain and walked Knightingale out of the pen. She grabbed a small stool and walked outside leading Knightingale to a good spot she sat the seat down and sat down on it. She walked to Regina's side and sat down gracefully.

Regina just starred up at the sky.

She looked at the blanket of stars above her. She hadn't kept track of how long she had been outside she was just enjoying the quite.

She looked at Knightingale, who was grassing on the grass in front of her.

"In glad to see your feeling better, I think it's time to go now, we have a big day ahead of us." She said to her horse as it nibbled on its grass.

She stood up slowly and took Knightingale back to her pen.

She made sure the gate was shut probably before walking back to the hut. Once inside she pours herself another glass of wine before bed. She decided that it was time she turned her phone back on. She had it turned off for so long she probably had texts and missed calls she had ignored for the past week.

When the phone had turned on she saw most of her texts and missed calls were from Emma. She smiled to herself knowing it meant the blond had been trying to find her. She read through the messages. Most of them were just Emma trying to get Regina to talk to her. She had only sent one message to her today. It had only been sent a few hours ago. All it said was.

You better come tomorrow. E xx Regina knew that Emma had decided to marry Hook. Regina didn't care, she still had a slim chance of telling Emma how she felt, she just needed to get there in time. She saw her phone said that it was one in the morning. She signed knowing she would have to try and sleep now. She got changed and lay underneath her covers and closed her eyes waiting for sleep to take over.

Emma had been at her mother's all day and had to sleep there. Her parent's enthusiasm for her wedding the next day had started to annoy her. She didn't know why but every mention of Hook being her husband made a wave of panic come over her body. She wasn't sure that she could go through with it she had been telling herself that what was for the best. Something in her gut was wrong. She looked at her phone as it lit up her dark bedroom. She picked it up and was surprised by a message from Regina. She opened it and read what it said. It was a simple text reading.

I will find you R xx Those words alone made me her smile, but panic managed to stifle it. She closed her eyes and drifted off. She dreamt that Regina turned up at the house before the wedding and whisked her off. She needed to feel safe for a while and the dream did a good job.

Regina was woken a few hours early from her slumber. An odd wet nose was being rubbed over her face. Confused and started she jumped back in her bed, only to realize it was Knightingale. She had managed to get through the gate again and gotten into the hut, the door wasn't very good at keeping closed.

She made a few strange sounds at Regina. She checked her phone it told her she had only been asleep for four hours.

She looked at Knightingale who was staring at her.

" Look we can go for a small walk but I need to rest," She said the horse seemed happy enough to follow her from the hut. Regina and Knightingale walked to the lake.

"You're going to be sleeping somewhere much better tomorrow but you won't be able to wake me up anymore. Your bed will be a too far away. Regina said sadly. finding herself slightly upset that Knightingale wouldn't be able to wake her up anymore.

"You'll have a lovely bed and nice people to look after you, I'll visit you every day," Regina told the horse who walked loyally at her side. Regina realized that Knightingale didn't have her reins on but was still following her. She was still stunned that the horse trusted her so much. Though they had helped each other through a rough time and they both were better for it. Knightingale no longer had to live in a forest with traps lay about and Regina had found something that made her feel a bit more like she did before her mother betrayed her.

She found herself smiling even though a few days ago she was feeling broken and unfixable. She hadn't known where to start with getting over Emma. Knightingale made her realize she didn't have to. Something just had to change and she knew what, and Goddam it, she was going to do it her way even if it killed her.

Henry lay on his bed, he was wishing that Regina had got there in time to stop Emma from marrying. Hook wasn't a bad guy but Henry didn't think he was good enough for Emma. He knew who she really needed to be with. Henry just didn't know what his Mother had planned. He opened up his messages and looked at the one that read The Queen. Emma had changed it when Henry had gotten confused as to what to put them both down as. On their phones Emma was under The Saviour, Henry was Prince. Regina was always The Queen.

It had been an ongoing joke they had thought it would stop once Regina noticed. Instead, she changed her name to The Queen, Henry's to Prince Henry. She didn't want to put Emma in as The Saviour, but she didn't tell Henry what she put, instead she just changed the conversation.

He decided he needed to talk to her. He typed:

Hey I know it's late but I needed to chat with you

H x

Regina felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She and Knightingale had been by the steam for some time. It was getting light now and the bird sang all around them.

Regina picked up her phone. On it was a text from Henry. She read it. Deciding she needed to tell Henry what was going on. She hadn't spoken to him about her feelings for Emma. She didn't feel comfortable talking to Emma about it let alone her teenage son.

She didn't know where to begin, she started simple.

Hey sweetie, you can always talk to me, Even if it's way past your bedtime mister

M xx

She pressed send. She smiled at her phone, missing her son.

Henry's phone vibrated in his hand. He saw that his Mom had texted him back. Surprised she would be up this late he opened it. He laughed quietly at his Regina's attempt to tell him off over text. He typed back:

Hey Mom, I don't really have a bedtime anymore. To many distractions. Everyone but you has stopped telling me.

H xx

He pressed send. He wanted to ask her what he really wanted know. He knew she wasn't going to bring it up. He typed out:

Mum where are you? I miss you.

H xx

He pressed send he didn't often tell his Mom he missed her, but it was more often then she knew and would ever know.

Regina got the first and read it disapprovingly. She started typing.

This is me telling you every night to go to bed early, you'll regret it when you're up late for something you really should be at. Hint hint

M xx

She sent it and just as she pushed the button a new message came.

It made her face drop knowing her son was missing her. Maybe he deserved to know what she was planning.

I've somewhere hidden away, not many people know where it is. Emma defiantly doesn't. She walked straight past me at one point. Don't worry I'll see you tomorrow I have a plan. Don't tell Emma. Just trust me, Henry, I think this might actually work

M xx

Henry smiled at his phone. It made him happy to know that she was still fighting for her happy ending. It gave Henry hope that she would find one. He knew what some of that entailed, but he was wondering what else his Mother wanted.

Ok, Mom, I trust you, just make sure you're not too late. She is in the church at twelve. I'll sleep, Grandad is waking us up and nine. I really hate mornings.

H xx

He thought he'd give her a heads up. He really didn't like waking up early no matter what the occasion was. He usually didn't operate until he had coffee. Which Emma would let him drink, but Regina wouldn't.

He remembered the morning Emma had handed him his cup. He had come home from a hard day at school. Emma had seen him and handed him a coffee. He had looked at her, she just said."You look like you need it, drink up".

So he had. He was having it in the mornings, it made it a whole to easer to say awake enough to get through school.

Once day Regina had caught him. Emma and he were sat at Granny's absentmindedly talking. Granny had poured them both a fresh cup just as Regina walked in. The first thing she said was...

"Henry, if I see you drink that your grounded"She had casually sat next to him. Took the cup and claimed it as her own.

"Ah come on Mom, I have a test today and I was studying all night" He had said then just put his forehead on the table. Regina just patted his back.

"Trust me I need it more than you " She had said and just sipped from his cup. She smiled at him and he just sighed at her.

Regina's phone buzzed again. She looked at it. And made a note of the time

It was six o clock and she needed to at least get a couple hours sleep in. She decided she couldn't be bothered to go back to the hut. She just lay down in the grass using her coat to lay on. She watched as Knightingale drank at the stream and ran around the field.

Her eyes slowly closed.


	8. Sleepy

AN: Thank you to everyone one who has read this :). There's one chapter left but if anyone wants a sequel or a few one-shots I have some Ideas. Some of them could be adorable. Got to love the fluff.

Emma was awoken by Snow with a gigantic grin on her face.

" Morning Sweetie, it's the big day, breakfast is downstairs, then you need to shower. Belle is coming over to do your hair at ten" Snow said turning around to walk out the groaned not half as enthusiastic as her Mother.

"Today's the day" Emma grumbled as she pulled herself from her cozy bed. She looked back at it longingly. She huffed and walked downstairs.

She took her seat at the breakfast bar. Snow was making her a coffee.

"Make that extra strong Mom, I'm gonna need it," she said. Her mother nodded.

"It is, trust me, how do you think I'm so awake." Snow said smiling at her daughter.

"Makes sense," Emma said, getting the cup off the counter where Snow had just put it down in front of her. She took a sip. It was just warm enough for her to drink.

She already felt a little more awake just from smelling it.

"Thanks, Mom," She said as Snow placed a pancake on her plate.

Snow just smiled and went to make sure David had gotten Henry up. Emma ate her breakfast and drunk her coffee slowly. By the time she had finished Snow was back on her phone.

" They had trouble getting Henry up, David had to bring in coffee beans to wake him up" Snow giggled. Emma smiled

"That's my boy, could I get another one before I shower that one was amazing, I've missed your morning coffee," Emma said as Snow walked back into the kitchen.

"Sure there's plenty," She said handing Emma the coffee pot.

"Yes," Emma said pouring more coffee.

" Pour me one too," Snow said.

"Sure thing," Emma said already pouring it into her Mom's cup.

They quickly finished their coffee and Emma went to go shower. She pulled on an old pair of jeans and a shirt. She dried hair wanting to make sure it was ok when Belle came around.

She went back downstairs.

To her surprised her Mother had all different makeup and nail polish laid out on the table.

"What is this I thought I was getting married not doing a commercial" Emma said teasing her Mother.

"Ha ha," Snow said sarcastically. " I got a little over excited when I was looking, sit down we need to do your nails, makeup can wait till after your hair is done."

Emma did what she was told and sat opposite her Mother.

"Pick a color" Snow instructed.

" whatever you want, I don't know anything about nail polish." She said not ever caring enough to paint her nails they just chipped instantly.

"Ok, what about blue" Snow said.

"Sure," said Emma still having no clue about nail polish.

Snow smiled and pulled the lid off. Emma awkwardly held her hand out to her Mother. Who started to paint it carefully. Twenty minutes later they were ready and dry. It was now almost ten and there was a knock on the door.

Snow went or answer it. She let Belle in.

" Hey Bride of the day," Belle said excitedly. Emma was still admiring her nails. She never got them looking anything close to as cool as her mother had.

"Hey Belle, Mom you need to teach me how to do this," She said looking up at her Mother and Belle.

"Sure it will be fun," Snow said.

"Ok, you can just stay there if you want" Belle shook her head.

" Nope, my butts going numb, I think I'll sit on a more comfortable chair," she said getting up and sitting on a more padded chair.

"That so much better," Emma said.

Belle laughed and put her stuff down by Emma.

" Ok, where should we start," Belle asked her.

"Don't ask me, ask Snow she is a Wedding expert?" Emma said smiling at her Mom who grinned back.

" Well here is what I had planned..." Snow began

Henry had been forced awake with coffee beans and was annoyed to find they had drunk all the coffee. Henry decided to make it because he didn't trust Hook or David to be able to do it. His granddad and Hook had been loud all morning. Henry had a hard time staying asleep. He should have taken his Mom's advice and gone to bed early. Usually, it wasn't a problem, but he was pretty sure Hook was still drunk from the night before.

Henry had played games whilst the men tried to join in failed and then went to drinking and laughing loudly.

Henry had let himself become emerged in the game.

He waited for the coffee and poured it into his cup. He got himself a bowl and poured in his fruit loops. He took a seat and ate his Breakfast.

He watched as his Granddad tried to get Hook to shower.

" I know you had one yesterday Hook, but your getting married, you need to look your best for Emma," He said.

"Why? She sees me every day, in fact, she saw me yesterday." Hook said not quite getting how important smelling nice was when in a room full of people.

"Look, go shower and I'll sort the suit out that you managed to spill rum on," David said a little annoyed that Hook was being uncooperative. Hook just grumbled and went upstairs.

David walked over to Henry.

"I don't see why he doesn't want to look his best for Emma, he is about to dedicate his life to being with her and he can't be bothered to take a shower" David said, thinking maybe his daughter did deserve better than a Pirate that didn't want to do anything to impress his wife to be and family.

Henry just shook his head and took a sip of coffee.

"It's like he doesn't want to marry her or something," David said, worrying a little in case Hook backed out on his daughter whilst he was meant to be making sure he was getting ready.

" No, I just think he knows her heart's not in it," Henry said getting up and putting his bowl in the sink. He drained his coffee then walked upstairs to get his suit ready. It was going to be a long day.

Belle had finished with Emma's hair she had done a sleek hairdo and placed small flower pins strategically around Emma's hair. trying to get it to keep in place. She sprayed it the third and final time with the hairspray and it looked sturdy enough. It was eleven now and Emma's felt nervous and panicky. Regina still hadn't come to see her. Maybe Regina had decided she couldn't be bothered with the hassle and she give up. Emma excused herself to go to her bedroom to calm down in peace. On her bed lay a single red rose. She picked it up. Attached to it was a note on it said

I found it by the river when I was exploring. I thought you'd like it. I will see you soon I just need to make a few arraignments for my friend. I just want you to know I will be there and I hope I get there in time.

R xxx

Emma smiled at the note and sniffed the Rose. It's fragrance strong enough for her to smell but not overpowering.

She placed it in the in next to her flowers from Hook in the window. She could help but feel like Regina's was more personal. Snow shouted her from downstairs.

"We going to do your make up now Emma" Emma sighed she hates all this sitting still not moving thing. It got boring fast.

She walked downstairs.

Regina had woke up a little later than expected. She had been nudged awake by an impatient, bored Knightingale. She checked her phone and saw that it was eleven, at ten she had woken up and spotted a rose, it was beautiful. She decided she needed to let Emma know she hadn't disappeared. She had written a note and magically placed it on Emma's bed at Snow's house. Knowing that's where she probably was.

She had fallen asleep again somehow. She had an hour to clean herself up and get to the ceremony in time. She quickly got up and jumped onto Knightingale's bareback. Not having done this before with her, she was nervous, but Knightingale was fine with it and just trotted along at a good speed. Not making it difficult for Regina to hold on. She knew her lessons with Daniel would pay off one day. She enjoyed the breeze and soft sound of Knightingale's hooves hitting the floor in a steady rhythm. In no time they were back in the hut. She walked Knightingale back into the shed and put her safely in the pen. She quickly went to get clean and put on decent clothes. She had been living almost in her riding gear for the entire time since she had found Knightingale.

She made a quick job of getting clean making sure her hair wasn't too bad by using magic to style it. She made some of her nicer clothes appear. She had a pair of tight black trousers and red velvet shirt and of course, her bed favorite pair of riding boots which she had to admit, she looked great in. She smiled at the mirror she had magicked up.

" Let go save the Princess," She said as she walked out of the hut one last time.

Emma was panicking now. It was half eleven. She was getting married in half an hour and her best friend still hadn't shown up.

She was all made up with her fancy hair and nails.

"I think it's time we see what the dress looks like." Snow said excitedly to see her daughter looking so beautiful.

"Sure let me go get it," Bell said going over to pick up the suit bag with Emma's dress in it.

"Right, take your clothes off," Snow said.

"What did you say to me?" Emma asked extremely startled at her Mother's words.

"You're not going to be able to put it on yourself. We have to help you so you don't mess up our hard work." Belle said.

"I did not sign up for this" Emma said.

"You kinda did" Snow giggled "quick the car will be here soon."

Emma just started to get undressed feeling ever exposed. Belle hurriedly tried to put the dress on her. Lucky enough it went without any problems. Emma was grateful to be covered once again.

"Thanks, Belle, without you and Mom this would be a complete disaster," Emma said realizing how much effort her Mother had put into everything.

"Don't thank me yet, I could still end up a disaster." Snow said seriously.

" Thank you anyway" Emma smiled at her Mother. There was a honk outside.

"That will be the car. Wait here I want to get pictures." Snow said getting her camera out and almost running outside.

"Oh god," Emma said before walking out behind her Mother. Belle gave her a hand to walk down the steps.

Regina was putting the final touches to her outfit including putting roses in Knightingale's mane and tail. The horse seemed to enjoy the attention it got from Regina. Once they were done, Regina fitted on the newly polished saddle that shone in the sun.

She jumped on the back of the horse. She checked her watch she had ten minutes to get there in time she was panicking if she would make it. Knightingale noticed the change in her attitude and started to gallop towards the town. Regina loved going fast, but at the moment she was nervous and didn't know if she was going to throw up.

Emma got to the venue, David was waiting for her at the door, along with the bridesmaids and Henry.

Her bridesmaid being Cinderella, Belle, and Ruby who came back with Dorothy, especially for Emma.

Emma smiled at the three of them and at Henry and her Father in their matching suits. Music started playing in the next room and the doors opened. Snow went first. She glided down the aisle like she was born to do it. Next was Henry, who didn't put that much effort into walking any differently than usual. Her father hooked her arm in his and guided her towards the door.

" Are you ready?" He asked.

"Sure" Emma replied. He was expecting more but just walked her into the room, full of people staring directly at them. Emma couldn't help herself from looking for Regina. She said she was going to come. It wasn't like Regina to be late. She caught Hooks' eyes and he was looking at her like she was a treasure to him. She isn't sure she was comfortable with that.

She continued the long walk down the aisle. Her father turned to face her just before they got to Hook, He kissed her hand and said so only she could see it.

" She'll be here trust me, Regina love a good wedding." He said jokingly as he handed her to Hook. Emma stood next to Hook who was wearing a suit that smelt faintly of rum and washing up dad was useless at stains.

The victor began the ceremony.

Regina was almost in town now she could see it in the distance. Knightingale was running effortlessly, not even getting a little tired. She galloped through fields she even jumped a few fences.

Her leg was strong again and she didn't need to hold back.

Regina still couldn't stop the smile on her face as she rode to get to Emma. She had a feeling in her gut that told this was going to work. She finally reached the town.

Knightingale raced through the streets.

Emma still hoped the Regina would come through the doors even if she had reformed into the evil witch at least she knew Regina cared for her enough to come to her wedding. The Vicar was speaking and suddenly it all went quite everyone was looking at everyone one was looking at Emma. Everyone looked at the figure who just appeared.

"Oh don't mind me in just here for the show," Zenna said in her usual 'this is amusing' tone. She took a seat at the back, a grin on her face. Emma was now certain that Regina was coming. She turned back to the Vicar to everyone's surprise and he began to speak again this time more nervously. Emma just listened and waited.


	9. Just in Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does she make it ?

AN: Last chapter :p Hope you like it. If not I'll do an extra epilogue chapter. Also thanks to everyone who's been reading and commenting and everything you guys rock, :D 

Regina raced forward, Knightingale was as fast as she could go. She could see her destination in the distance. She headed straight for it.

Emma was getting restless now it was almost time to finalize everything the Vicar speech was approaching the I do's part. Emma's mind was racing uncertain if she wanted to make a bolt for it.

Emma had given up all hope and it was her about to give up and to agree to marry Vicar began.

"Do you Emma Swan take thee, Killian..."

Just as he was about to say Hook's real name. The doors to the church flew open. A shocked gasp came from the congregation. Emma turned around, the afternoon sun blinded her for a second. In amongst the beams, she saw a large creature and a figure sat on top. Emma knew instantly who it was. There was only one person confident enough in this town to crash a wedding on a horse.

"Sorry I'm late I didn't wake up I went to sleep late," Regina's said her voice loud and Queen like. Emma was startled to see her on a horse.

It looked calm and like it didn't mind Regina riding it's back.

Regina couldn't believe she had gotten there in time. When she explained why she was late, she could see Henry at the front sniggering to himself.

"I know what this looks like and no, I'm not here to threaten Emma and Hook. Just let me get off the horse" Regina said she jumped down gracefully.

Emma couldn't help but smile at Regina's horse. Hook, however, was not impressed.

" Can we just get on with it?" He asked a little annoyed at Regina for interrupting.

" No you can't Hook," Regina said confidently strolling towards Hook and Emma.

"Why not, we are supposed to be getting married Regina," Hook said his sour tone startling Emma.

" Not if I have anything to do with it," Regina said standing in front of him now. Her stance strong and she looked calmer than Emma had ever seen her before.

" I've spent the last few days realizing why I never got my happy ending, I was looking in the wrong places. I'd been so focused on Robin and trying to prove I could have a happy ending that in completely ignored my actual feelings. I couldn't be with Robin because it's been you all along" Regina said looking directly into Emma's eyes. There were the same over expressive eyes their son had. She could see Emma felt the same. Emma was completely ignoring Hook now and was starring back at Regina. Tears threating to fall in relief and pride.

" I had almost given up until I found Knightingale and it reminded me that I had something to fight for, myself," Regina said. " I'm sick of letting everyone take away my happy endings this time I'm fighting for what's right," Regina said.

She began to walk towards Emma slowly.

" Ever since I was a child I'd been looking for someone who understood me, who wanted me to be the best person I could be. I never found anyone in my time as Queen. I stopped looking after a while, I completely ignored the signs, Emma, I'm so sorry" Regina said fighting back her tears.

" I finally found that person Emma," Regina said, grabbing both of Emma's hands and looking into her eyes. "You" Regina finished her speech.

Emma had tears streaming down her face the entirety of the crowd just understood what was happening. Including Hook who had enough of being quiet, Emma was his happy ending and no one else's.

He broke the silence.

" So you're telling me Regina and this entire crowd, that you think that Emma will pick you over me, your more deluded than I thought," He said trying to gain everyone's attention. It didn't work as soon as he finished talking Emma lunged at Regina and kissed her. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma and pulled her in tighter. They forgot about everyone else and just let go. A loud cough interrupted them.

"Son in the room guy's," Henry said, but he was grinning at them. Both of them turned their heads to him, still holding each other. They both grinned at him.

Regina gestures him over. Emma ruffled his hair and pulled him into the hug.

" So what now" Leroy shouted to them. Regina looked at Hook who's jaw still wasn't shut.

" I'm sorry Pirate, this Princess is mine," She said. She held Emma's hand and walked her to Knightingale. Who nudged Regina and Emma slightly with her nose as they passed.

" She likes you, I like you too," Regina said as she jumped up effortlessly onto the horse.

"Is this a bad time to tell you I'm a little scared of the horse. Plus Henry, we need a new plan" Emma said shouting to her son, wondering what she was going to do with Eclipse.

"Here I got you trust me, you're going to love this" Emma looked at Regina and the huge smile on her face and thought. Why not, she trusted Regina with her life.

Regina held out her hand and Emma grabbed it, pulling herself onto the front of the horse, with a little help from Regina. It definitely wasn't as graceful as Regina. She looked behind nervously at Regina and said.

"Hold on to me"

"Forever" Regina made a huge goofy grin.

Knightingale turned around on the spot and walked out of the trio trotted down the street.

"Are you ready?" Regina asked Emma.

" For what?" Emma asked.

"Just hold on tight," Regina said pulling Emma's into her arms so they were around her arms were around her waist. She kicked Knightingale's side three times lightly. As the horse picked up its front legs and bolted off, Emma let out a little scream. They galloped of so fast Emma's hair flew out of its carefully done hairdo. It wiped around her face.

The Queen tightened her hold on Emma and placed her head on the blond's shoulder. Regina turned her head and kissed Emma quickly on her cheek before steering Knightingale off into the forest for a long ride. They would be back soon enough for Henry. Emma still needed to figure out what she was going to do with Eclipse. Maybe Henry could ride him. But in her heart she knew Regina was going to force riding lessons on her, Emma was slightly excited. Slightly.


End file.
